It's Like Feeding Ducks
by lola121880
Summary: Lois, Clark and Chloe go undercover at an elementary school for the DP. Feuds, mystery, and chaos ensue!
1. Prologue

**Title:** It's Like Feeding Ducks

**Author:** Lola

**Spoilers:** None

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them!

**A/N:** This is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story. Please send reviews and feedback! Special thanks to Marcy for her input

**Teaser**

Kate shifted in her seat as she struggled to concentrate on what Ms. Riley was saying. Something about looking for key words and underlining the ideas? She knew she should be paying better attention. After all, the test was in two weeks and every third grader across the state had been preparing for it since birth. Okay maybe that was an exaggeration, but everyone—teachers, parents and students—acted like it was life and death. Kate knew this test was important. It helped determined whether she could go onto fourth grade next year and _that_ made her nervous. If she did survive this reading test, she'd have the big writing test next year. Kate had never been a good test taker, especially in reading. It was just so hard to concentrate on all the important facts, let alone find the correct answers to all the questions. The whole thing made her head hurt.

She glanced at Addie and Miles. Their eyes were glazed and Miles was absentmindedly tapping his finger on his desk. Kate sighed.

Addie looked over and smiled at her friend. "It's okay. You'll be fine," she mouthed. Then she shifted her attention back to Ms. Riley.

Easy for her to say. Addie had been reading chapter books since kindergarten and it came so easily to her. She always aced her tests where as Kate struggled to maintain a passing grade.

Kate watched as Miles continued to tap a silent rhythm and began to bounce her knee in a counter beat. She was just beginning to get the hang of it—

"Kate."

Busted.

Her head snapped up and she could feel her face becoming warm. "Yes, Ms. Riley?"

"I asked you, what is the main idea of this paragraph?"

Kate licked her lips and looked down at her Reading Comprehension booklet. She helplessly looked at the page full of words that didn't make any sense. Think, Kate. What does Ms. Riley say? Take a deep breath and start at the top.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Kate?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

Ms. Riley knelt down next to Kate and lowered her voice. "Did you take your medicine this morning?"

"Yes. But it's almost lunchtime. I think it might be wearing off."

"You've got another hour and a half before your next dose, Kate." She pushed a stray hair behind Kate's ear. "Honey, it's doing it's job. Now I need you to do yours. I really need you to pay attention to the lesson."

Kate looked down. "Yes, ma'am."

Ms. Riley rose. "Addie, can you tell us the main idea of this paragraph?"

Kate only half listened to Addie's response, something about frogs and their habitat. An hour and a half and then she would be able to concentrate. For some reason her afternoon dose of _Concerta_ helped her understand school better. She always did better in the afternoons. Only an hour and a half and things would improve. She just _had_ to focus until then.

Ms. Riley had moved to stand over Ryan. He was talking about tree frogs.

Right.

The main idea.

Frogs.

Kate's aunt collected frogs. She had a Kermit the Frog telephone. Kermit was so funny. Kate loved to watch the Pizza Hut commercials with Kermit and Miss Piggy. Kate had received an obnoxious alarm clock of a pig holding weights. Her brother thought it was hysterical. When it went off in the morning it yelled, "Wake up! Time for morning exercise." Kate looked at the clock on the wall and became fascinated with the second hand and counted the beat in her head never hearing the rest of the lesson.

---

"Will you save me a swing?" Kate gathered the trash around her and stacked onto her lunch tray. She placed her used napkin over the half-eaten Salisbury steak.

"Yep. Me and Marissa will meet you there." Addie stood and made her way towards the large trash can as Kate followed behind.

"'Kay. Don't let Miles beat you to it. He'll try and take all the swings." Kate waved to her friends and headed to the nurse's office. On her way she stopped to get a drink from the hallway water fountain, hugged a former teacher and became fascinated in watching a first grade class enter the library.

"Katelin Winters. I thought I'd find you heading my way." Mrs. Hill, the school nurse, shook her head with a smile.

Kate winced, "Sorry, I'm late. I got—"

"Distracted." Mrs. Hill placed her hand on Kate's shoulder and guided her towards her office. "That's why you come to see me." She held the office door open and waved Kate inside.

Kate went straight to the sink and helped herself to a small disposable cup, filling it with tap water. She watched as Mrs. Hill unlocked her medicine cabinet and grabbed a small white Dixie cup with Kate's name written on the side. She handed Kate the cup. "Bottom's up."

Kate popped the medicine into her mouth and chased it down with the water. She then disposed of both cups in the nearby trash can. "Thanks, Mrs. Hill. I'm off to recess!"

"Bye, Kate. See you tomorrow." She turned to re-lock the cabinet. "Same bat time."

"Same bat place," Kate finished and hurried to meet her friends outside.

Kate raced across the playground towards the swings. Everything came into focus so quickly and suddenly her vision began to blur. Kate staggered to the swing and barley sat down before everything went black.

"Kate?" Addie caught her friend as she slumped back in the swing. "Kate, quite fooling around."

Kate didn't move.

"Kate?" Marissa shook Kate gently as Addie struggled to keep Kate's small body sitting upright in the swing. "Kate?"

Marissa screamed and a huddle of children began to form.

"Ms. Riley come quick! Kate's not moving!"

Whispers were flying all around. What's the matter with her? Why wasn't she moving? Was she okay? Ms. Riley and another teacher maneuvered through the crowd. Ms. Riley relieved Addie of her position and ordered her to run to the office. "Go get Mrs. Hill and tell her to call 911."

Addie ran back towards the building as Ms. Riley stroked Kate's hair. "Come on, Kate, open your eyes." She exchanged a look with the other teacher. _Not again. _This wasn't good.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One **

"_Texas_!"

Perry didn't even look up from his editing. "Jerry, the superintendent, is an old friend of mine. We go way back. He wouldn't have tipped me to this story if it wasn't big."

Lois paced, "Perry—"

"Lois, it's a major story, four kids from the same school are in a coma. We are the Daily Planet; therefore we cover news around the world. I can't help but feeling we've had this conversation before."

"But, Perry," Lois protested, "you actually expect _me_ to go undercover as a teacher."

"You won't be teaching an entire class of children. You'll just be tutoring small groups." He circled a misspelled word and then tucked his red pencil behind his ear. "You'll be fine. Clark and Chloe will both be with you."

"Well then, why can't Chloe go undercover as the teacher?" Perry gave her a pointed look before returning to his editing. Lois rolled her eyes, "_tutor_?"

Perry sighed and looked up. He spoke to her as if explaining to a small child. "Lois, we've been over this. Chloe is going undercover in the office, as the school secretary. She does have the magic touch when it comes to computers and you may need her hacking skills."

"Fine. What about Clark?" She crossed her arms.

"Do you _really_ want to go undercover as part of the school maintenance crew?"

"Perry," she whined, and braced herself on the back of the overstuffed chair facing Perry's desk, "teachers are supposed to actually _like_ kids. They are supposed to be patient and caring…"

"I know, honey. Fake it."

"But, Perry—"

"Lois, this isn't open for discussion." He raised an eyebrow.

Lois stood there a moment debating whether or not to continue her tirade.

"Don't you think you should go home and pack?" He held Lois' look and then pulled the pencil from behind his ear and returned to his editing.

Lois blew a frustrated breath between her lips and huffed out of Perry's office making a beeline for her desk. She re-stacked the pile of papers, deposited them in the top drawer and slammed it shut. In the process she managed to knock the small container of pens off her desk. She sighed as she helplessly watched her pens scatter all over the shiny hardwood floor.

This was _not_ her day.

First the alarm had failed to go off and she barely had time to shower before rushing out the door. She had hoped that Clark would return from his latest save so that he could get both of them to work on time, but when the radio announced that Superman was in middle of an oil fire, Lois knew she was on her own. She had planned to grab some coffee and a muffin at the small café next to their apartment complex only to discover that the espresso machine was on the fritz and the cook was new, and all baked items were burned. After chewing out some poor, young muffin peddler, she hailed a cab and hurried to the office. She was fifteen minutes late to the staff meeting and it had just gone downhill from there. Clark was still no where to be seen.

Lois knelt on the floor to gather the stray pens and groaned when noticed her shoes. Great. One black and one navy. Smooth, Lane. Could she just start this day over?

She jammed the pens back into their container and placed it back onto her desk. Deflated, she clicked into her email and pulled up her flight schedule, sending it to print. She jerked her chair around and smacked into Clark who yelped as coffee splattered a brown path down the front of his shirt and ending in a puddle on the floor.

"Oh Smallville, I'm sorry." Lois opened her bottom drawer and pulled out a stack of napkins. She handed half to him then proceeded to mop the floor.

"Lois, it's okay." He knelt down to help her up. "I thought you could use this." He placed the mostly empty coffee cup in her hands and perched himself on the edge of her desk. "Rough morning?"

"To say the least." She took a sip of her coffee and dropped slowly to her chair. She smiled at Clark. "Thanks. I really needed this." She took another sip. "How'd the fire go?"

"Superman got there in time. It was messy but no lives were lost."

She squeezed his hand. "I'm glad."

Clark placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently. "I talked to Chloe." At Lois' expression he added. "It won't be that bad."

"It'll be that bad."

Clark opened his mouth and Lois shot him a pointed look, "Clark, I was kicked out of school. Twice." She sighed. "How am I supposed to be convincing as an educator when I hated school as a kid?"

"Well," he interlaced his fingers with hers and played with her ring, "maybe you can use that to your advantage."

Lois raised an eyebrow.

"You'll be able to reach these kids in a way others can't. You can use the fact that you hated school to relate to these students. You know it's sad, but it seems that these days, most children hate school. Maybe, you can help them learn to enjoy it."

"Nice try, Kent. But I doubt that."

"Think of it as practice for our own kids." His tone was light.

"Clark—," Lois warned. They'd had this conversation before and she did not want get into the fact that he wanted children and she wasn't ready in front of an audience.

"Okay," Clark raised his hand in a draw and tried another strategy, "keep your focus on the story. Lois, there are four kids in a coma and no one knows what to make of it. Unofficial sources seem to think the school has something to do with it. And to make matters worse, the school is in danger of closing due to funding. We've got to figure out what's going on down there." He squeezed her hand before leaning in to steal a kiss.

Lois sighed into his gentle kiss. He always knew how to make her feel better.

"Hey, you two," Chloe grinned and dramatically cleared her throat, "are you ready to go over the details of our trip? Or am I going to have to do this by myself?"

Clark smiled at Chloe and then rose taking Lois' coffee mug with him. "Go ahead and start. I'll be right back."

Lois gestured Chloe into the seat next to her desk and sighed, "Texas, here we come."

-----

"And you thought Smallville was tiny." Chloe commented as Lois maneuvered the compact rental car through the town's main street before turning into a small subdivision of large houses.

"What was the address?" Lois stopped to let some kids riding bikes cross and glanced in her rearview mirror. Clark was right behind them in the dark green Ford Taurus. Jerry Wright's instructions had been specific. After landing at DFW they were to take two rental cars for the trip to his humble town, the women in one car and Clark in the other. Perry had phoned to tell them just before they boarded the plane in Metropolis. When Lois had questioned this, Perry had responded, "Lois, just trust the man. It's his town. He knows what he's doing."

Chloe looked down at the notebook in her lap. "Turn left at the next intersection and it should be the third house on the right."

"There it is." Chloe pointed and Lois parked in front of a beautiful ranch style home.

"Wow." Lois breathed, opening the car door and standing to stretch. It had been a long flight to Dallas and then another three hours in the car. Clark parked behind the women then came to stand behind Lois resting his hands on her shoulders.

Chloe had just finished putting her notebook away and exited the car to join Lois and Clark when the front door opened revealing a fit, middle-aged man wearing jeans, a Longhorns sweatshirt and a forced smile. "You made great time!" He shook Chloe's hand and quickly ushered the group towards the house. "Come on in and let's get you something cool to drink. Then we can discuss the details of your time hear."

Lois shared a look with Clark. This man was choosing his words very carefully. "Would you like some iced tea? Water? Or I have some cokes if you'd prefer them." He held the heavy front door open for his guests.

The three reporters glanced at one another before Clark responded, "Iced tea is fine. Are you okay, Mr. Wright? You seem a little tense."

Jerry Wright held up one finger in response and carefully closed the door behind them. Once inside, he visibly relaxed. "I'm fine and please, call me Jerry. I'm just being very careful in front of the neighbors. You see Mr. Kent this is a very small town and for our plan to work the people in this town can have no idea of your true identities." He led the group into a spacious sitting room with two over-stuffed couches, a lazy-boy lounge chair and a large coffee table in the middle. "There is something going on at one of my schools and I'm afraid that there are people in this town who know the truth. And unfortunately, being a small town people talk. If it gets around that I'm housing a couple reporters and placing them in my school…we'll never get to the bottom of this."

"Enough said," Lois smiled, "Clark and Chloe here grew-up in a small town." At Chloe's look Lois added, "and I may have spent some time there myself. We know what you mean about people talking."

Chloe sat in the corner of one of the couches. "Is that why you had us come in two cars?"

"And what do you mean 'housing a couple reporters?'' Clark added as he and Lois joined Chloe on the couch and Jerry sat opposite of them.

"Ms. Lane and Ms. Sullivan will be staying here with my wife and me. You'll meet Becky soon. She and Kim went to get some extra groceries. And Mr. Kent, you'll stay with Kim, my daughter, and her husband. They live a couple houses down." He leaned forward.

"You're cover story, Ms. Lane and Ms. Sullivan, is that you are friends of my niece. The two of you are looking for a place to settle and Amber, my niece, pointed you in my direction."

He looked at Clark, "You, Mr. Kent are a college buddy of Mike's, Kim's husband, and just need a temporary job for the next week or so."

The door opened and laughter floated down the hallway towards the sitting room. Soon cabinet doors began to open and shut, while the rustling of grocery sacks mixed with the sound of women's voices.

Clark barely noticed the new arrivals as he took Lois' hand interlacing their fingers. "No offense Mr. Wright…"

Jerry's hand came up and Clark corrected himself, "Jerry, I'm sure you've put a lot of time and effort into our cover story, but why can't Lois, my wife, and I stay together?"

A tall, raven-haired women came into the room with a try of drinks and placed them on the coffee table between the couches. She kissed Jerry on the check. "Hi, daddy," and sat next to him and helping herself to a tall glass of tea.

"Oh right the tea. I forgot. Thanks, Kim." Jerry reached for a glass of tea. "This is my daughter, Kimberly Dawson." Kim smiled at the trio before her as Jerry continued the introductions, "Kim, meet Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Chloe Sullivan. Perry White's best of the best."

Kim nodded to each and her gaze stopped at Clark. "In answer to your question, Mr. Kent the young 3rd and 4th grade teachers will open up and talk to you more if they think you're single. And they _are_ the teachers to talk to since all the students in comas are third and fourth graders."

Clark opened his mouth to object but Chloe beat him to it. "Jerry, won't the people of your town be suspicious of three new strangers in town all coming to work at the same school?"

"I think we'll be alright. Although it is unusual to have three new young people to come into town at once, it isn't out of the ordinary for a small town school district to hire on people they know. The ties of family and friendship carry a lot of weight when filling jobs. That's why we are keeping the real reason you are here so close to the chest. Many of the teachers and staff within our school district are friends of, or related to school board members. When this story blows open, it's going to be big and I fear that someone I trust might be involved.

So as you can see, this is personal. I have four students in a coma and the authorities and doctors are at a loss to explain it. And call me crazy but I just can't believe this is a coincidence. Something is going on at that school."

"I agree," Kim added, "I teach kindergarten at Creek Side. I've taught some of the children that are in comas. Something is being covered up."

"That's why I called Perry. He's always going on about how great the three of you are and how nothing gets past you." Jerry looked each reporter in the eye, "I know this is an inconvenient way to go about uncovering this story, but I don't know what else to do. Creek Side is already in danger of closing. The test scores have been very low over the last few years and we are loosing some big government funding. These comas just make it worse. People are starting to get scared."

Lois sandwiched Clark's hand between both of hers. "We'll manage."

"Tell us what you know about the children that are in the comas." Clark squeezed Lois' hand in return and reached for one of the drinks. "What are the children's backgrounds?"

"Kim, your mother copied the children's records after hours yesterday. Will you go get her and bring the files with you?" Kim rose at her father's request, calling for her mother.

Jerry placed his empty glass back onto the table. "Becky is the school's secretary. That's who you'll be filing in for, Ms. Sullivan."

"Please, I think I speak for all of us," Chloe glanced at Lois and Clark. At their nods she continued, "you are putting us up in your homes. You can drop the formalities."

Jerry smiled, "Alright. Clark, you'll be on the school's maintenance team. I'm afraid to keep you cover, you may have to do some school repairs for us. I'll try to make sure that you're at Creek Side as much as possible but all the schools in our district share the same maintenance crew, so you may be at other schools as well. I hope the physical labor won't be any trouble."

Lois and Chloe shared an unspoken dialogue as Clark cleared his throat. "It won't be a problem."

"Lois, you'll be our new third and fourth grade reading and writing tutor. You'll be pulling small groups of students and working with them." At Lois' uneasy expression Jerry added, "Don't worry, Kim and Becky will help you with ways to work with the students. I just thought this would be a good way to put you in the hallway with the students and teachers closest to the problem.

And Chloe, as I said before, you'll be filling in for Becky in the school's office. Becky is going to suddenly come down with a bad case of the flu. Aren't you, Beck?"

Becky Wright a tall, slender woman entered the room carrying several thick file folders. She was a carbon copy of Kim except her dark curls had streaks of gray running through them and laugher lines framed her kind face. "Yes," she coughed dramatically, "I think I'm feeling poorly." She set the folders next to the tray of drinks. "Hi, I'm Becky and I'm so glad you're here. Thank you so much for helping us."

Lois nodded to Becky and picked up the first file. "Let's see what we've got."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Lois stepped out of the hallway bathroom and padded to the guestroom she was sharing with Chloe. It had been a long evening.

After going over each of the students' files individually they laid them all out to see if they could find some kind of link among the four students. Katelin Winters, a third grader, and Jaden Salinas, a fourth grader, were both taking medication for ADD/ADHD. Neil Smither was doing his second year in third grade and missed a lot of school due to his asthma. Christian Anciso was a fourth grader with perfect attendance.

On the surface the students seemed to have little in common. Katelin and Christian had gone to Creek Side since kindergarten, Neil moved to Creek Side from a school in Fort Worth when he was in second grade and Jaden's family moved to town a few months ago. Katelin and Neil were great kids with lots of friends. They were rarely in trouble, whereas Jaden struggled with his behavior until he started taking _Atterall _for his ADHD. Jerry said that Christian's parents were going through a nasty divorce and that Christian had been acting out. He was rumored to be a permanent fixture in Jerry's office.

The only thing the students had in common was that they all struggled in one way or another academically.

Lois' lips formed a lopsided grin when she saw her cousin and entered their temporary bedroom. Chloe was sitting up in the small daybed, one leg curled under her as the other dangled over the side of the bed and her lilac flannel pants bunched around her knee. Her foot, covered in a lime green sock, bounced up and down in the air as she chewed the side of her lip and picked up one of the many files spread across the bed.

Lois made her way through the narrow path between the daybed and the pullout trundle bed to her bag and rummaged for her cell phone. Clark had told her he would call before going to bed himself.

She then sat on the edge of Chloe's bed and began leafing through Jaden's file. "This brings back memories of childhood."

Chloe looked up and smiled. "Yes, except tonight we won't have to play possum every time we here footsteps in the hall."

"I don't know. We are staying with the superintendent and this _is_ a school night."

Chloe smiled, amused. "In that case, I hope your better at your Sleeping Beauty routine. You always gave us away."

"Me! You were the one with the fake snores." Lois made exaggerated snoring sounds before giving way to a fit of laughter.

"Yeah, well, I was five! What can I say? It always worked for Bugs Bunny…." Chloe watched her cousin glance at the clock on her cell. "Relax, he's fine."

Lois sighed. "I know. I just worry about how he'll," she lowered her voice and made a flying motion with her hands, " make his rounds. His excuses are so lame."

Chloe was about to agree with Lois' last statement when the cell phone chirped. "See, I told you he was fine." She rose from the bed and made her way to the door. "I'm going to go wash up for bed. Tell Clark I said good night."

Lois nodded to her cousin and flipped the phone open. "Hey, Smallville. How'd it go tonight?" She moved from the daybed to the small trundle and curled onto her side tucking one arm under her head while holding the phone with the other.

"Good. Metropolis was relatively quiet so I wasn't gone long."

"Did you have to come up with a reason for leaving?"

"No. Seeing as though Kim is a teacher and Mike is a coach right in the middle of basketball season, they showed me around the house, told me to make myself at home and went to bed early. They never even knew I was gone." He sighed. "I wish you were here."

"Me too."

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

Lois shifted to lie flat on her back and blew a burst of air between her lips. "More like anxious. Kim and Becky did give me some things to do with the students when I get them." She stifled a yawn. "I'm just glad that I'll at least be helping them with something I know about. I'm helping the forth graders with writing."

"Good thing it's not spelling." Clark teased.

"Funny, Smallville." She held her hand out in front of her and fanned her fingers. She needed to schedule a manicure when they got back to Metropolis.

"What are you tutoring the third graders in?"

"Reading—that's what I'm anxious about. I mean, I can read but I'm supposed to teach these kids how to read and look for main ideas." She sighed. "Knowing how to do something and knowing how to teach it are two different things."

She could hear Clark's smile. "You'll be great. I can totally picture you with a child sitting next to you teaching him to read." His tone became dreamy. "One day it will be our child."

Her hand dropped. "Clark—"

He didn't seem to hear her; either that or he was ignoring her. "Lois, just think, one day we'll have our own little person…."

Lois abruptly sat up. She didn't like where this was headed. "Clark—," her voice increased a level.

"…We'll get to guide and teach…."

"Clark—," Lois rose from the bed and began to pace the small walkway between the daybed and the trundle.

"…..It will be so amazing. The perfect blend of you and me…."

"Clark, I mean it stop!" She all but shouted into the phone.

Chloe poked her head in. "Jeez, Lois, I can hear you down the hall." She shut the door behind her and raised an eyebrow at her cousin.

Lois tapped her temple and stopped pacing as she listened to Clark breath on the other end. She struggled to get her own breathing under control and paused for a long moment.

"Clark, I know you want children." She fought to keep her emotions in check. "But we've been over this."

Chloe grabbed her laptop and carefully backed out of the room.

Lois resumed her pacing. "I'm not ready."

"I know you don't want kids _now_, Lois. But I don't understand why it bothers you for me to even talk about it."

"Clark, I'm not sure I want to have children—_period_."

"Lois—," he paused to think of the right response.

"Clark, I'm serious."

She'd come this far. She took the plunge. "I've thought about this a lot. I don't want to have children."

There, she'd finally said it out loud.

Lois fought back the tears threatening to fall. She knew she had just shattered his heart.

Every thing stopped. If it weren't for the sound of his ragged breathing, she would have sworn he'd hung up on her. "Clark?"

"I've got to go. Someone's calling for help."

Was he serious? "Clark, we need to talk about this."

"No." His voice was even, void of all emotion. "I think we've done enough talking for tonight."

"Clark!"

"Lois, what's there to talk about." She could hear the anger building in his voice. "You've made your mind up. Forget what I want!"

"Clark, don't you dare go right now." Her tears teetered.

"There's a bank robbery." They both knew he was lying.

"Clark—"

"I'll see you tomorrow."

And then there was silence. She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. She could barely read what it said through her blurred vision.

_Call Ended. _

She lost the battle as tears flowed down her checks. They pooled together at her chin and dropped heavily to the floor. She let them fall as her sorrow quickly took a U-turn and her tears became hot. She swallowed the scream threatening to erupt and began pacing again, faster this time.

She could feel the pressure building in her gut as her hands began to shake. Unable to contain it any longer the anguished cry escaped her lips and she hurled the phone across the room. She watched it give an unsatisfying thud before tumbling to the ground.

Deflated she sank to the soft trundle mattress and curled herself into a ball. Grabbing fist-fulls of the overstuffed pillow and burring her head to muffle her sobs, Lois cried herself to sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Thank you for filling in for us, Ms. Bly. We would be lost without a school secretary."

Chloe followed Creek Side's principal of 10 years into the school's dark office. "Oh it's no problem Mrs. Davis. It's the least I could do seeing as though the Wrights are putting my cousin and me up for a few weeks. Besides, Mr. Wright thinks that I'll love working in one of his schools. Who knows maybe this will lead to something more permanent."

Chloe listened as Mrs. Davis prattled on about some of the office tasks, nodding at the appropriate moments and wondered how Lois was holding up. When Chloe left the house this morning, Lois was still in the shower saying she would catch a ride with Kim.

Chloe knew that Lois and Clark's argument had been ugly. She had stayed in the hallway working on her computer, trying ignore the random shouts coming from her shared bedroom and had waited a good twenty minutes after the room quieted before chancing her reappearance. When she opened the door she almost stepped on Lois' cell phone—not that it would have made any difference—it was in pieces. She glanced at Lois trying to gage if she was up to talking about it, but quickly discovered that she was asleep.

Chloe had gently covered her cousin with a soft blanket and brushed wet, sticky hair away from her face. Lois whimpered in response and Chloe's eyes teared as she watched her cousin's sleeping battle. Chloe had then gone to bed herself but woke several times throughout the night to Lois' soft, sleep induced cries.

Chloe really needed some coffee.

Susan Davis switched on the light and unlocked the front door of the office. She smiled at the young woman before her. "I hope that you enjoy your time here and forgive me for saying it, but I also hope you're only here temporarily. Becky is irreplaceable."

"Oh I understand. Mrs. Wright gave me the long list of all that I'd be doing before I left this morning." At Mrs. Davis' raised eyebrow, Chloe quickly added, "It was in-between coughing fits, but I think I have an idea of how to run your computer system and what my duties will include. She also said that if I had any trouble that any of the teachers and staff would do what they could to help."

"Yes, well I'll be in the cafeteria if you need anything. Students will be arriving shortly for breakfast and I'm going to go help monitor. You can reach my by intercom." Mrs. Davis quickly showed Chloe how to work the system before heading out the side door.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. So far so good. She walked around the large counter island over to Becky's desk and turned on the dark computer. She was just beginning to go through the computer's attendance program when she heard the main door open. A small boy entered carrying a Superman lunch box. He stopped short when he saw Chloe.

Chloe rose from the desk and leaned over the tall counter. "Can I help you?"

The boy stared at her for a moment with large blue eyes. "You're not Mrs. Wright."

Chloe paused, surprised at the boy's response. "No I'm not. She's home sick today." When the child didn't respond Chloe added, "I can help you."

The boy just stood there and blinked.

Chloe forced a large smile on her face and tried not to let the frustration show in her voice. "Seriously, what do you need?"

His small brow furrowed and Chloe blew a short breath between her lips. "Look, kid—"

"Do you pull teeth?"

"Wh-," Chloe faltered, "what?"

He placed his lunch box on the counter and sighed as if Chloe was the one wasting his time. "Do you pull teeth? Mine's real loose. See?" He thrust his chin forward and opened his mouth revealing his baby teeth and sure enough one tooth was leaning forward and slightly crooked. To emphasize his point he stuck a grubby finger in his mouth and wiggled the lone tooth back and forth. "Mrs. Wright pulled my friend Raymond's tooth. She said she'd pull mine when it was loose enough."

"Can't you wait for the nurse to get here?"

"Please! I'm the only first grader who hasn't lost a tooth!"

"Uh—" Chloe opened her mouth to respond when Kim entered the office followed by Lois who was holding two cups of coffee. Her eyes sported large, dark circles.

"Good morning, Westin." Kim ruffled the boy's hair.

"Mrs. Dawson!" Westin threw his arms around the slender woman's waist. "Will you pull my tooth?"

Kim knelt down to the boy's level. "Let's have a look. Wiggle it for me."

Westin did as he was told, talking through the whole thing. "I's weel woose. 'ee?"

Kim smiled at the boy and tapped his nose with her finger. "You're right it's pretty loose. But it doesn't look quite loose enough to pull yet. Why don't you wiggle it from side to side today and come find me tomorrow. We'll see if it's loose enough then."

Westin grinned. "Okay! Wait 'til I tell Raymond!" He raced to the door.

"Westin."

"Yeah?"

Kim held out his forgotten lunch box.

"Oh, yeah." His grin widened as he walked back to the young woman, excepting his lunchbox and rushed through the main door calling his thanks as he headed down the hallway.

Kim smiled and rose to face two astounded reporters.

Chloe shook her head. "You pull teeth?"

"Just call me the school dentist." She opened the large wooden door and stopped halfway. "Good luck today, ladies." She gestured to the hallway in front of the office. "My room is just down that hallway if you need anything. I'm off to get my room ready for the day."

"Thanks." Chloe called after her turning to face her cousin. She was surprised to see her smiling. Apparently, she had decided to put last night's argument on the back burner.

"Chlo, just what would you have done if we hadn't walked in when we did?" Lois was fighting a smirk. "Cause the look on your face was priceless!" She handed Chloe one of the steaming mugs.

Chloe excepted the coffee gratefully and nodded her thanks. "Honestly, I don't know. Let's just say that you guys had perfect timing!" She took a careful sip of the hot liquid.

"Perfect timing is right." Susan Davis entered making a beeline for the secretary's desk. "There's been a change of plans."

At Lois' confused look Susan stopped. "Sorry. Let me start over. I'm Susan Davis, the school's principal, and I'm assuming that you are Liz Cochran, the new tutor Mr. Wright emailed me about."

Lois nodded as Susan continued and rummaged through the top desk drawer. "I just got a call from Karen Matthews, one of our kindergarten teachers. The doctors have put her on bed rest for the next two weeks until her baby's due date. So you're going to kindergarten."

Lois' smile faltered and her eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Chloe sputtered and choked on her coffee.

"You're it." Susan continued to rummage for some unknown item, too frazzled to notice the women's reactions to the latest development of the day. She found what she was looking for and looked up, handing Lois a key. "Here you go."

"But—" Lois' coffee mug sloshed, spilling some of its contents as she all but dropped it onto the counter. She shot Chloe a helpless look and this time Susan caught it.

"I know it's short notice and that you had planned on working with older students but we're short on subs. I caught Kim Dawson, one of our other kindergarten teachers, in the hallway. She said she'd be more then happy to help you"

The office door opened again revealing two arguing students and a frowning teacher in-between them. Susan gestured to the hallway directly in front of the office as she took one of the arguing students by the hand. "The kindergarten hallway is that way. Page the office if you need anything."

Lois watched helplessly as Creek Side's principal and some teacher she didn't know wrestled the angry students towards the principal's office. She turned to her cousin. "I did not sign up for this. Perry can stuff it if he thinks I'm going to—"

Just then the morning bell rang and Chloe walked around the large blue island and practically shoved Lois out the door towards the sound of small children. "Just think Pulitzer!"

Lois shot Chloe a look that could have put Clark's heat vision to shame before kicking the sign in front of the office welcoming parents and students to Creek Side and headed to her doom.

Chloe sighed, wondering who she should feel more sorry for Lois or the kindergarten students.

----

As Lois walked towards her classroom, she shook her hands at her side, squared her shoulders and blew a quick breath successfully fluffing her wispy bangs.

Okay, Lane. You can do this. Just call in the troops and put them into rank.

She slowly unlocked the classroom door and almost ran into a massive cabinet before finding the light switch. The large room was cheerful with tiled floors, colorful walls and large bulletin board displays. Four tables were arranged in U shape around a bright blue carpet full of squares that were filled with different objects in a rainbow of colors. The room was meticulously organized. Every thing was labeled with both print and pictures from the crayon boxes to the chairs. It was the perfect place for young minds to be shaped.

Lois ran her hand over the arm of a large navy rocking chair that was placed directly in front of the carpet. An array of colors had been splattered over the navy paint creating wild designs. She then picked up a book that was propped on the ledge of the large dry erase board and sank into the chair to investigate it's content.

She didn't have long.

"First!" A tall blonde boy came bounding into the room followed closely by a dark headed girl with pigtails.

The girl argued. "No, I was first!"

A small boy dressed in a yellow T-shirt ran in next. "Third!" He went to the massive cabinet and flung open the large wooden door revealing many cubbies with nametags.

Lois rose to face the children.

"Elianna, I was first!" The blonde boy crossed his arms.

Pigtails, or Elianna, put her hands on her hips as her head bobbed back and forth. "You were not, Ashton! You pushed me out of the way!"

A fourth child entered the room. "Not uh! You weren't first. Mrs. Matthews was first. Weren't you Mrs. Matthews?"

Four sets of eyes turned to Lois, noticing for the first time that their teacher was not present.

"Who are you?" Ashton eyed her suspiciously.

A fifth child entered the room wearing a pair of very loved overalls. The little girl stopped directly behind Yellow Shirt. "Where's Mrs. Matthews?"

Lois was about to respond when a sixth child came running in at full speed. Her hair was thrown in a messy ponytail and she was holding a large plastic trophy with what appeared to be a motorcycle placed at the top. "Hey guys, look!" She thrust the trophy into the air and began dancing around the group, singing. "I won! I won!"

"Cool, Maggie! I want to see." Overalls exclaimed. She followed Maggie around the room.

Maggie continued her dance right into Lois, accidentally stepping on Lois' foot. "Oops! Sorry, Mrs. Matthews! Hey, nice shoes. You never wear high heels to school. How come you're wearing them today? You should wear them more often you know." Maggie looked up and took a surprised step backwards. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Lois fought the swear word off the tip of her tongue and forced a smile as she reached down to rub the top of her foot. For a small child, Maggie sure new how to make it count. "I'm here to teach you."

Overalls tugged Lois' sleeve. "Are you a nice teacher or a mean teacher?"

"Well, uh—" Lois wasn't sure how to answer that and she was beginning to feel claustrophobic. Several more children had entered the room all talking and laughing at once.

She had one child pulling on her sleeve, another one was running their hand along the back of her knee saying something about how smooth her nylons felt. Soon other little hands were touching her legs and she wasn't positive but she thought someone was tapping her shoulder.

_Where was Superman when you needed him?_

Suddenly, Lois felt the knot tighten in the pit of her stomach. She had promised herself this morning that she wasn't going to think about Clark or their fight. She was going to focus on the story.

"Mrs. Matthews' friends freeze." Although it wasn't by Clark, Lois was saved. All hands from everyone under the age of six shot into the air.

Lois smoothed her suit jacket and turned to see Kim Dawson, fighting a smile.

"You guys act like you've never seen a substitute teacher before." Kim placed her hand on a bouncing child, ceasing all movement. "Mrs. Matthews is going to be out for awhile and Ms. Cochran is going to take care of you today. You are to treat her with a lot of respect. If she tells you to do something, what is your response?"

The children chorused the expected reply. "We say 'Yes, Ma'am,' and do it."

"Good." Kim turned. "Alex!" She raised her eyebrow and giving him a very meaningful look. The little boy froze, erasing the array of silly faces he had been performing for his friends.

"Now go get your chairs unstacked, put your things away and go get your morning work." Kim rose her hand before Ashton could ask the question. "I've got your morning work here." She raised some papers. "I'll put them where they go. Now get busy."

Several children obediently began their morning rituals of tossing their backpacks into their cubbies and placing their lunch boxes into a laundry basket by the door, whereas other children continued to stand still, not moving a muscle. "You forgot to say unfreeze." Overalls pointed out.

Kim looked up, shaking her head and Overalls followed suit. "What are you looking at Mrs. Dawson?"

"Nothing, Kailey." Kim sighed and ceremoniously added, "_unfreeze_."

The immobile students dropped their hands and joined the rest of the class.

"Ethan, will you put these on the front table please?" Kim handed the boy with large green eyes a stack of worksheets.

Ethan smiled, happy to help. "Yes, Ma'am."

Kim watched for a moment as the class settled into their morning work. They chattered as they colored and completed their papers, but the room was calm and everyone was on task.

Kim beckoned for Lois to follow her into the hallway. "Just a second let me peek in at my class."

Lois glanced through the door across the hall from hers and saw numerous children sitting at their tables hard at work. "That was incredible. For a second there, I thought I was going to be mugged by a bunch of five-year-olds!"

Kim chuckled. "They don't really know the meaning of personal space, do they? Lois, I know this is not what we had originally planned, but I'm afraid you're stuck with us, at least for today. I called my dad and he's working on finding a sub for Mrs. Matthews. So hopefully, you'll be back to 3rd and 4th grade tomorrow.

I jotted down a daily schedule for you and made a list of the today's activities. Karen and I do a lot of the same things and plan together. If you have any questions or problems, I'm right across the hall. Karen's got a fairly good class. There are nametags in this stack for each child. Several of them like to boss and be in charge, and Alex can be a handful, but just remind them that you are the teacher. You should be okay." Kim handed Lois a stack of notebooks and papers, before heading to her own class. "Remember, holler if you need anything."

"Thanks." Lois watched Kim leave before turning back to her own class. "I'm the teacher." She pushed her lips together and huffed through her nose. "Right."

Alex was coloring on Ethan's paper as Ethan sat crying telling Alex to stop. Kailey was already at the door ready to tattle on the boys.

Lois sighed and could already feel the migraine forming behind her eyes.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Big thanks to Marcy on this one. Your suggestions made the chapter great!**

**Thanks to everyone for all the feedback. Enjoy the chapter and please review!**

**Chapter Four**

Chloe looked up and frowned as Clark lumbered into the office. He was sporting the same dark circles she had seen on Lois' face earlier and looked as if his night had been sleepless as well.

She looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the office's new arrival. Mrs. Hill, the school nurse was on the phone in her side office calling a parent of the sleeping child that had come down complaining of a headache and Mrs. Davis had gone to a principal's meeting 20 minutes ago.

All clear.

She rose grabbing the maintenance clipboard and met Clark at the large counter. She spoke in a low voice. "Hey Clark, how has your morning gone?"

He sagged against the countertop. "I had to make some repairs to the playground at one of the other elementaries. It wasn't too bad." He rubbed a hand over the back of his head.

Chloe eyed him carefully and glanced at Mrs. Hill's office. She was still on the phone. "That wasn't what I meant."

Clark sighed and his mouth drooped. "I guess you heard we had a fight."

"More like overheard the fight."

Clark winced. "Oh."

Chloe grabbed his hand. "Clark, just give her time. She'll be ready for children one day."

Clark squeezed his eyes shut. "Apparently you didn't over hear everything." Clark's voice broke slightly. "Lois doesn't want children."

"Ever?" Chloe was taken aback.

Clark shook his head.

"Oh, Clark. You guys will get through this. I mean think of all the other…"

Clark jumped and pulled his hand back clearing his throat and grabbing the clipboard from Chloe. "Ms. Bly, which item needs to be done first?" He pointed to the clipboard.

Chloe recovered quickly. "Well, the third and fourth grade hall needs some work with the…," she searched for the right excuse, " …wiring."

Mrs. Hill entered the main office and placed the notebook of student contact information back in it's home on the shelf behind Chloe's desk.

"The wiring?"

Chloe gave Clark a look. "Yes, all the classroom televisions seem to be on the fritz."

Mrs. Hill eyed the two, as Clark chucked his thumb towards the door. "Yeah. I'll get right on that." He went to the door and headed right.

"Sir." Mrs. Hill called after Clark.

"Yes?" He poked his head back in.

"The intermediate halls are that way." She pointed Clark in the correct direction.

"Right." He glanced at Chloe, who was hiding a snicker, before heading out. "Thanks."

Amy Hill watched Chloe who had gone back to her desk with a bemused smile. "He's new, right?"

Chloe looked up. "Yes."

Amy held Chloe's look. "Isn't he staying with the Dawsons?"

"I guess so." Chloe shrugged.

Amy grinned. "I hear he's a college friend of Mike's." She paused. "He's good looking."

When Chloe didn't respond, Amy added, "You know he wasn't wearing a ring. I bet Kim would set the two of you up."

Before Chloe could answer, two panicked police officers rushed in the main door. "It happened again?" They went straight to Mrs. Hill. "The EMT's are on their way. Who's in a coma now?"

Amy looked at Chloe whose confused look reflected her own. "Bob, what are you talking about?" Amy addressed the older of the two officers.

"We just heard that Creek Side sent a call to 911 over the dispatch and came as fast as we could." Bob glanced between the two women. "You didn't call." It wasn't a question.

Chloe went to her computer and checked to see if there was a way to look up the school's immediate phone records. She found what she was looking for and clicked the mouse to enter the program. Chloe looked up at her expectant audience with a rueful smile, waiting entirely too long for the program to load. Chloe resisted the urge to bang on the side of the ancient CPU and breathed a quick sigh of relief when the screen finally sprang to life. "Here we go. I don't know where the call went, but the last outgoing call came from room 605."

"That's Mrs. Matthew's room." Amy frowned as she went to the door and was followed by the officers. "She has a sub today. I don't know why she would call 911 without coming to the office first."

Chloe didn't hear the rest of the conversation as she watched the group through the large glass windows. She picked up the office phone and had to push the button several times before hearing the dial tone. She quickly punched the extension to Lois' room hoping to catch her before the infantry arrived.

Come on, Lois. Pick up.

"Mrs. Matthew's room." A high-pitched voice answered through the static connection.

"Yes, this is Ms. Bly in the office. Can I speak to Ms. Cochran please?" Chloe tapped her finger on her desk and craned her neck to see if she could gage how close the officers were to Lois' room.

"Who?" There was a lot of chatter and laughter in the background that continually cut in and out.

"Ms. Cochran." There was no response. "Your teacher."

"Oh yeah, her." Chloe heard the phone drop making the static worse, before she heard the child yell, "Teacher! It's for you…..I don't know. It's some lady."

"La--, Liz Cochran, here."

"Lois, what the hell is going on?" Chloe shifted her gaze down to the hallway again.

"Chloe? Hang on. Oh, Alex, honey don't do that. Scissors are not a toy! Alex. Alex, put those down. I mean it! Alex!"

The level of noise increased over the terrible connection and Chloe was pretty sure she heard wailing.

"Lois!"

The officers where almost there.

"Chloe, I gotta go. Alex just cut Elianna's hair." Chloe swore under her breath as she heard the phone click off.

----

Clark made his way down the third and fourth grade hallway and paused when he saw the closed door dressed in a large display of colors, paper paw prints and the words 'Tiger-rific Tutor.' He stood there a moment debating his options. Should he walk away wallowing in his anger and self pity, go in and apologize for practically hanging up on her and try to talk through the issue, or enter the room and kiss her soundly, pretending the whole argument never occurred?

Although he really favored the third choice, Clark knew that neither he nor Lois would be able to just forget the argument. Sure, they would get past last night's dispute, but there were deeper issues that needed to be resolved.

After their fight, Clark had taken off into the night sky and flown among the clouds for hours not returning to the Dawson household until dawn. Lois didn't want children and although he didn't want to force her into anything, Clark felt he had been cheated out of something extraordinary.

At first he had been furious with Lois. She had made and huge decision without considering his feelings, but as fatigue settled in, Clark felt his anger dissolve only to be replaced by a deep sadness.

He went over all the possibilities in his mind to explain Lois' reasoning and he could only come to one conclusion—she was scared.

Clark was very familiar with the many moods of the tenacious woman that had captivated his heart. Life was good when Lois was excited or happy however, when she was angry, it was best to steer clear—or duck. Usually, when Lois was scared, she hid it under false bravado. Chocolate was the remedy for sorrow and when nervous, Lois went into babble mode. Yes, Clark was accustomed to the many facets of Lois Lane's emotions.

But now?

Lois had flipped the tables on him and he was unsure of how to proceed.

Clark sighed, clearing the thoughts that replayed over and over in his head. He had to see her some time today. He finally decided he might as well get it over with and opened the door to greet Lois. He could only hope that he would be well received.

"Lo—"

A young woman was on a step stool reaching for some books on a tall, crooked shelf. Startled, she almost slipped. The young woman was surprised to feel a strong hand steady her balance and help her down. "You scared me!" She then looked up ready to face the offender, but immediately softened after taking seeing the handsome man who had also rescued her.

"I didn't mean to startle you. I didn't realize…"

_Where was Lois?_

Clark searched his weary brain for a quick cover hoping she wouldn't question him. "I'm new. I'm doing some maintenance in the hallway and thought this was a classroom."

The young woman smoothed her outfit and adjust the stack of heavy books in one arm. "It's okay. Maybe I can direct you to the right place." She deliberately reached her left hand out to shake Clark's. "I'm Beth Riley, I teach right next door."

Clark returned the handshake missing the woman's quick glimpse of his hand. "That would be great, Ms. Riley. Thanks."

Beth bit her bottom lip before smiling at Clark. "It's not a problem. What did you say your name was?" She tucked some hair behind her ear and leaned a little closer.

"Oh, I…"

Was she flirting with him?

"I'm Al Dolan." Clark stepped back just enough to give himself some space, but not enough to completely dissuade Ms. Riley's interest. "You're one of the third grade teachers right? Maybe I can start working in your room. I'm supposed to work on the wiring of your television."

"They're actually going to fix it?" Her tone was sarcastic as her head tilted to the side and shook slightly. "I thought snowballs had a better chance in hell."

"Maybe I can help."

Beth held Clark's look. "You're serious?"

Clark nodded, feeling guilty that his story wasn't entirely true.

"Well, I'll be damned," she muttered.

Clark was surprised by her reaction and his face must have shown it because Beth raised her hand in an apologetic manner. "I'm sorry. It's not you." She pushed her lips together and bobbed her head in disbelief. "It's just…" She paused. "We, all the teachers, have sent in numerous requests to fix the dad gum things. At first they gave us the standard, 'We're working on it.' Then the reply changed to, 'It's not in the budget now, but it's coming. Keep teaching those kids. Get them ready for the test.' The last two requests have just been flat ignored."

Beth shifted the books in her arm to rest on her hips and continued her tirade. "It's so frustrating. They want us to give these students the best education, yet continually tie our hands with broken technology, budget cuts, and insufficient staff. For example, we were supposed to get a tutor today, to help some of our struggling students. But where is she? She got pulled to sub for some teacher that's rumored to be on bed rest. I mean come on! The test is in less than two weeks!"

"Rumored?" Clark raised both eyebrows. So that's where Lois was. He wondered which room she was in and how she was handling the new undercover placement.

Beth lowered her voice to a whisper. "I heard that Karen Matthews is interviewing with another school district. I bet she's in Dallas living it up and getting the royal treatment."

"Oh." Clark stammered.

Beth frowned but then quickly changed facial expressions and blushed. "I'm sorry. I just completely unloaded on you. You really just want to do your job and get going don't you?"

She had no idea.

"It's okay, really." Clark decided that he would find a way to really fix this young woman's classroom television, even if it took some super help. "Why don't I start working on your TV and see if I can get it up and running."

Beth sighed as if a huge weight had been lifted from her chest. "Thank you. I'd be more than happy to let you have a look, Mr. Dolan. Or can I call you Al?"

Clark smiled at her. He gestured that she should lead the way and followed her to her classroom. He surveyed the room quickly, noting the vacant desk amidst the rows of students. An empty chair was pushed into the desk with a torn nametag and the name Kate Winters written across it in a neat, even script.

She pointed to the television. "Here it is." Her smile widened. "Take your time and thanks again." She left Clark to his work and headed back to her desk.

Clark retrieved a step stool from the corner of the room, positioning it to where he could see the class. He carefully lowered his glasses, focusing on Kate's desk. There were several pencils, some crayons, various sizes of erasers and a pair of scissors scattered among many textbooks. He glimpsed at few of Kate's papers and it was obvious that schoolwork did not come easily. Realizing there was no new information to be gathered from Kate's desk, he began searching other students.

Beth Riley walked through the rows of her busy students pausing here and there to assist as needed, all the while keeping one eye on the attractive repairman. She watched from her peripheral vision as he fiddled with his glasses and tinkered with the wiring of the television. She focused her full attention on him when his head snapped to the side and his face took on a far off look.

She raised an eyebrow, questioning him.

"I'll, uh, be right back." He headed towards the door. "I forgot something to fix the, um…" He pointed to the TV. "….the wires need some work." He quickly exited the room.

"Ms. Riley, I'm finished." Beth turned her attention to the student, hoping the handsome repairman would soon return.

----

Clark moved down the hallway just short of super speed and exited the door leading to the playground. He was sure he heard sirens nearby; they were headed towards the school. Clark looked to make sure there was no one watching spun into his suit and flew towards the front of the building.

After arriving at the scene he followed the medical crew into the school's main entrance, and stopped in the office doorway. Any meager amount of anger he had left in his soul immediately dissipated as the scene before him sent a sucker punch to his gut, knocking all breath from his lungs.

Lois was hunched over, one hand on her knees and the other wagging a finger at three small children who were wearing identical guilty looks. The vein on her forehead was more apparent then usual and her mouth turned under in frown that meant business. Her suit was wrinkled and she had a small run in her nylons starting at the knee. Lois' hair, which was usually so well kept, was wild and flipped in different directions across her back. She was most definitely out of her element.

Clark swallowed the thick lump in his throat, taking in the vicious black circles that assaulted Lois' eyes. They were dark and deep against her waned complexion causing her eyes to look sunken and dull. His stomach tightened when he came to the realization, she had spent the night crying—and _he_ was the one who had caused her tears.

He desperately wanted to pull her into his arms and tuck her tall frame against his body.

"Superman?" The small town policeman was star struck.

Clark entered the room completely. "I was flying nearby and heard the sirens. I thought you might need some assistance." His gaze never left Lois, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. The two of the children, however, were now looking at Clark with deep reverence. The boys began to nudge each other as the little girl with a messy ponytail crossed her arms and huffed. Lois stood to her full height, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. The child looked up at Lois and uncrossed her arms, giving a dramatic sigh.

A familiar voice spoke, breaking Clark's trance. "Superman." He turned to face Chloe. "Thanks for coming but this turned out to be a false alarm." She looked at the children as she addressed the man of steel. "It seems we had some curious students who decided to play with the telephone."

Clark looked at the children who were fidgeting under the adults' scrutiny.

One boy hung his head and the girl elbowed the boy next to her as Clark walked to them. He glanced at Lois who finally met his eyes, penetrating him to his core. Jaw set, she held his look.

Clark licked his lips as he reached to cup her face. His hand was almost to her shoulder when he jumped and dropped it back to his side, suddenly remembering where they were. She searched his face a moment longer before breaking the unspoken dialogue. Shaking her head slightly, she squeezed her eyes shut before rolling them skyward. Lois turned abruptly, doing all she could to avoid his eyes and grumbled something about getting back to her class. She told the children to come straight back when they were through in the office.

Clark watched her square her shoulders and walk away without a backwards glance. He blinked his eyes several times, reminding himself to keep his emotions in check before kneeling to address the students. "Kids it's not a good idea to call the police unless it is a real emergency."

The little girl spoke up crossing her arms again and rolling her eyes. "Alex, made us do it!"

"No! Maggie! It was your idea!" The boy to Maggie's left stomped his foot and raised his fist.

Clark was about to step in when the other boy announced, "It was Maggie's idea, but you were the one that pushed the buttons, Alex!"

"No, I didn't." Alex was ready to deck both children.

Maggie thrust her chin towards the boy and huffed. "You pushed the buttons too, Rudy!"

Clark put his hand up to silence the children. The children stopped as if realizing for the first time that they were actually talking to Superman. "A very wise mother once told me that once a problem starts, it doesn't matter who started it. It a matters how you chose to finish it and if you learned something from it." Clark looked at the boys. "Is she the boss?" He gestured to Maggie.

Alex answered for both. "No. That lady that yells a lot is supposed to be the boss."

Clark bit down a smile when he realized that Alex was referring to Lois. So, she wasn't completely worn down. "Well, if Maggie's not the boss, then you probably don't need to do what she tells you to do, especially if you know that it's not a good choice."

Clark looked at Maggie. "Did you really, think that playing with the telephone was a good idea?"

"No. I just wanted to look at the phone." Maggie's eyes watered. She looked down and shuffled her foot on the carpet. "I didn't mean to call the cops."

Clark placed his hand under Maggie's chin and gently raised her face to meet his gaze. "Next time will you do me a favor?"

Maggie nodded.

"Stop and think before you do something. Think to yourself, 'is this a good choice or a bad choice."

"Calling the cops was a _way_ bad choice," Rudy muttered and Maggie glared at him.

"I said I didn't mean too!" Maggie turned back to Clark and heaved a great sigh swallowing her tears. "I'm sorry."

The boys echoed her apology and Clark ruffled each boy's head in return.

He rose and turned to address the officers. "I guess I'll be on my way then."

"Thanks, Superman." The EMT worker was in just as much awe of the man of steel as the children.

"No problem." Clark looked back to the children one last time. "Bye, kids. Remember what we talked about." Clark's gaze shifted to the kindergarten hallway and as an afterthought he added, "And be nice to your teacher. She really needs you to be on your best behavior."

The children nodded as Clark exited the room. He heard one of the officers ask Chloe what she thought Superman was doing in the area. Clark grimaced; he hadn't thought of that.

He heard Chloe mutter something about a fire in a surrounding city and speculate that maybe he had been nearby helping. He smiled, he could always count on her to cover for him.

Clark landed, checked for anyone watching, and spun back into his civilian clothing before heading back to the intermediate hallway. As he made his way to Ms. Riley's room, Clark's thoughts returned to Lois, wondering how she would handle the rest of the day and hoping they would soon have a chance to talk. He was finally ready to hear what she had to say.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here it is! Please review. Thanks!**

**Chapter Five**

A staccato beat pounded on the hard linoleum floor as Lois walked purposely towards her classroom, unnerved at seeing Clark. He had almost given himself away by reaching for her and as much as she longed for his arms, part of her was still angry with him for ending their last conversation so abruptly. So she had stormed away from the office, not giving him the satisfaction of looking back. She was almost to her room when she stopped. Unable to fight the pull in her heart, Lois turned to face the office. She knew she should go find her class and relieve Kim, she had been with forty five-year-olds for the last 20 minutes, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from the scene playing out before her.

Clark was kneeling in front of the children and Lois assumed he was discussing their phone prank. Maggie was standing with her chin forward and her arms across her chest; Rudy hands were shaking nervously and Alex looked ready to ready to strike them both. Lois' eyes watered as Clark raised his hand commanding the children's attention and her lips trembled when Clark lifted Maggie's fallen face to meet his gaze. Lois stubbornly wiped her eyes as she watched Clark address the child. Maggie nodded and was rewarded by a shinning smile from Clark. Fresh tears filled Lois' eyes when Clark affectionately placed his hand on each child's head, even Alex's. Clark was so good with children, a natural.

He would be an amazing father.

Lois crumbled at the thought and salty tears attacked her face. She headed quickly to the little girls' room and shut herself in a tiny stall, bumping her elbow as she reached for the shredded toilet paper and began to mop her eyes and nose.

Get a grip, Lane!

It would do no good to fall apart. She needed to suck it up, finish the job and get out of this place. Being here with all these children and watching Clark interact with them made it so hard to stick to what she knew was right. Although Clark would make an incredible father, she wouldn't be doing anybody any favors by becoming a mother.

Her track record in child rearing spoke for itself. Lucy was a prime example. The last time Lois heard from her sister was when she was calling for bail bonds. If the world ever needed a "super" villain, Lois might change her stance on motherhood, but until then, it would just be better all the way around if she remained childless.

Lois took several deep, shuttering breaths willing her tears to cease fire. She wiped her nose one last time before exiting the compact bathroom and tossing the soggy tissue into the trash can. Then, she hunched over to peer in the short mirror and starred at her reflection. Her eyes were puffy, her nose was red and the only signs of make-up were the dark mascara paths running down her checks.

Lois shook her hand under the automatic faucet and lifted cool water to splash her face. After patting her checks dry, she fluffed her limp hair and accessed her work. Her face was still blotchy, but the dark make-up streaks were gone.

This was the best it was going to get.

She straightened and headed out the door in search of her class.

The children didn't even look up when Lois entered the classroom. Kim had buddied them into groups of four or five and they were working with math manipulatives. Several groups were playing cards, while some were sorting plastic colored bears, others were rolling large dice before coloring in a graph and some were creating a colorful array of patterns with plastic pegs and pegboards. The groups were sprawled all around the room, and the noise level was high, but all students were fully engaged in their groups' activity.

"TiAnna, I suggest you keep the dice rolling on the ground and not flying in the air or you're going to wind up in time out." Kim rose from the small group of children she had been working with on the floor. "TiAnna," Kim warned.

TiAnna dropped her hand that was holding the dice to the ground and rolled it. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Thank you, TiAnna. That was a wonderful choice." Kim walked over to Lois and taking in her appearance, and mistaking the cause of her defeated demeanor, Kim placed a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, it's okay. Really. I mean several years ago the teacher down the hall had four boys phone the fire department—and they did it on purpose. As far as Elianna's hair, well, someone decides to play beauty shop at least once a year." Kim rose her eyebrows and smiled through her sympathetic frown. "Welcome to kindergarten."

Lois shook her head. "I don't know how you do this every day." She gestured to a nearby group of students. "I mean I can barely handle one child and you've managed to control forty of them."

"Well I couldn't do what you do every day either. I mean….chasing down the latest story, going undercover…..to each her own." Kim shrugged. "What do you say we have the students clean their messes and take a bathroom break before doing their journals? By the time they finish writing, it should be time for lunch."

Lois raised an eyebrow. "They write? And are we talking real words here?"

"Yes, " Kim laughed. "They don't always spell the words correctly—we call it inventive spelling—but they do write. In fact many students are already writing two and three sentences. We do still have a handful of students that are doing good to write one or two words, but most are writing at least one sentence. And don't let Maggie tell you other wise!"

Suddenly, a bucket of brightly colored pegs tumbled to the floor, scattering pegs every which way. The crash was followed by a shrill, "I'm telling!"

Kailey made her way towards the teachers ready to inform them of the latest scandal. She opened her mouth to tattle, but Kim beat her to the punch by commanding the room to freeze and giving the students their newest instructions. The children quickly obeyed and the noise level rose as they carried out the latest order.

As the children began the task of cleaning up the room, Kim turned to Lois, "Would you rather monitor cleaning or the restrooms?"

Kailey breezed by the teachers on her way to the door. "You forgot to say unfreeze."

Lois and Kim exchanged knowing looks.

"I'll take the bathrooms." Lois picked what she thought would be the easier of the two, seeing as though four children were arguing over who should actually get to put the bucket of bears away.

Lois headed after Kailey and walked back and forth between the boys' and girls' bathrooms. She turned from the boys' bathroom just in time to see Maggie, Alex and Rudy exit the office. Maggie's arms were again crossed and it was obvious, even from a distance that she was muttering angry words to herself. Alex's hands were in his pockets, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Rudy, on the hand, was barely holding it together. He was fighting tears and his face was red.

Lois met the group halfway between the office and the restrooms, her eyes searching through the office window. Clark was no where to be seen and Chloe was at her desk banging her hand on the side of her computer monitor. "What happened?" She looked at Rudy.

Though Rudy tried to speak, his words were disjointed and nonsensical as he gasped for air between phrases.

Lois looked at the other two children to see if they could decipher Rudy's message. Maggie huffed, stomped her foot and continued her quiet tirade. Alex's look was far off as he focused on the tiles lining the boys' bathroom.

"Well?" Lois tapped Alex's shoulder pulling him out of his own world.

"Huh?" He looked at Lois who shot him a pointed look. "Oh. Him. He's crying because they called our parents."

Rudy blubbered even harder.

"I don't know why they did it." Maggie shook her head in disgust, throwing her arms in the air. "I mean, we've already been told _three_ times not to play with phone. Now all my mom's gonna do is yell and tell me the same thing—like I haven't heard that before!" She rolled her eyes. "Then, I'm just gonna get a spanking or grounded."

Maggie aggressively shuffled her foot on the floor before twisting it, as if squashing an invisible bug. "Stupid phone!" She placed her hands on her hips and looked at Lois. Her expression changed as she tiled her head to the side measuring Lois' appearance.

"What, did they call your mom too? Cause you look bad." Maggie wrinkled her nose. "I mean your eyes are all gunky and stuff. What did you do?"

Rudy's wails subsided as he too scrutinized Lois. Alex was crouched down tracing patterns on the floor, bored with the conversation.

"Look here, young lady. That is no way to talk to an adult! I think you need to go use the bathroom and while you're in there you had better find yourself a new attitude."

Maggie met Lois' glare with one of her own. "Fine." She stomped to the bathroom muttering, "I was just saying—"

Lois turned back to the remainder of the phone posse. Rudy had stared up again and Alex was dancing from one foot to the other, in obvious need of a bathroom.

"You two go use the bathroom too and then go and get your journals." Lois ordered.

Alex ran to the bathroom yelling. "Man, I gotta go!" He was heard yelling as he entered the restroom. "Hey, guys, guess what? I got to meet Superman!" Rudy trudged behind with his shoulders hunched and his head hung.

"Rudy dry it up and wash your face while you're in there." She called after him.

As soon as all three children entered the bathroom Lois' fingers peppered her face. She didn't look that bad…..did she? She made a mental note to get her purse and freshen her make-up during her lunch break, before poking her head into the girls' restroom.

Kailey met Lois at the entryway throwing her thumb over her shoulder to point behind her. "Maggie didn't go to the bathroom. She's just playing." She continued walking as she carried out her mission. "Petra didn't flush and Sydney H. didn't really wash her hands. She just rinsed them without using soap."

Lois watched Kailey head towards the classroom. Lois knew that the Kaileys of the world would grow-up to be the lifeblood of her stories but she swore if Kailey snitched one more time, she was looking for duct tape.

Lois told the girls to hurry up and reminded them to wash their hands before turning to look at the boys' restroom. Alex was walking towards the classroom with his hands in his pockets. Lois' brow wrinkled as she noticed the water road that started at the base of his neck and lead all the way to the seat of his pants.

What the…..

Suddenly five boys came running from the bathroom, all talking and yelling at once.

"Teacher!"

"Alex!"

"Teacher! Alex he….." a boy with glasses tugged on her sleeve and pointed at Alex who chose that moment to enter the classroom.

The boy with numerous freckles decorating his round face pulled on Lois' hand. "Alex went to the bathroom wrong!"

Rudy whose face was now free of tears pulled on Lois' skirt. "Ms. Cochran, Alex did not go to the bathroom right!"

Glasses continued. "He sat down in the stand up toilet."

The boys continued to yell out various information about Alex's bathroom etiquette as several other boys came into the hall and joined in the tattling.

One boy was barely containing his smile, finding Alex's trouble very amusing. "Alex pooped in the urinal!" He and several other boys burst with laughter.

Lois jaw dropped. Were they serious?

Rudy pointed to the boy who was laughing the hardest. "Troy flushed it on him!"

Well, that explained the watermark down Alex's back.

By this time most of the students were out of the bathrooms and the news of Alex's latest stunt was circulating among the children.

Lois stood there at a loss of what to do. This was quickly getting out of control. "Freeze?" Lois' command was barely heard over the chatter. Lois became more confident as several students obeyed. This time she spoke with authority, "Freeze!"

The hallway immediately became silent as all hands went into the air. Every eye was on Lois. She thanked the students for the latest information and told them that she would take care of it. She then told the students to go to their classrooms and to get busy with their journals.

Several students quickly obeyed. Lois' vision shifted to Kailey whose mouth was open. "Unfreeze." Lois commanded and watched with satisfaction as Kailey closed her lips and obeyed.

Lois stood in the hallway a moment. She watched the students enter their respective classrooms before taking a deep breath and releasing it.

Surely, Alex didn't really….

She entered the boys' restroom and quickly exited when she confirmed that the boys had been telling the truth.

Perry had better leave town when Lois returned to Metropolis. She would never let him hear the end of this undercover nightmare.

Kim met Lois in the hallway. "Is it true?" She was fighting laughter.

Lois just looked at Kim and her face most of conveyed the answer to Kim's question as Kim let loose and her laughter filled the hallway. "Now _this_ one is a first!"

Lois was stunned. "How can you laugh at this?"

"In my job, you have to laugh at situations like this. Believe me." Kim said, taking deep breaths to get her laughter back under control. "A child's life is at stake. It's either laugh or strangle the boy."

"What do we do with him?" Lois wasn't convinced that she liked the laughter angle. She rather preferred the strangling option.

"Well, we take him to the nurse to replace his wet clothes, talk to him about his behavior, call his parents and write him up." Kim's laughter was gone. "Then we make his life miserable at school. He will sit by himself at lunch and live in time out at recess."

Lois paled. "I have to call his parents?" Perry was so dead.

"No, I'll take care of Alex. Will you walk back and forth between the rooms for a few minutes while I take him to the nurse?"

Lois nodded and watched as Kim went to retrieve Alex from the classroom. She watched Kim lead the boy to the office. She was tearing into him for his behavior. "Alex, I can't believe you would behave this way. I am so disappointed in the choices you've made this morning."

Alex shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted to see what would happen."

Lois glanced at Kim's face. She was shaking her head as if warding off another round of laughter before continuing her lecture with Alex.

Lois continued to walk back and forth between the classrooms. Her eyes scanned the room; most students were hard at work, heads bent over their journals and their soprano voices sounding out the words they wanted to write. Maggie was rolling her pencil back and forth across the table, watching it with great intent.

"Maggie."

Maggie's head snapped up.

Lois raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Don't you think you should get busy?"

Maggie sighed. "I'm trying to think of what to do."

The boy across from her looked up. "I'm writing about Superman. Alex said that you got to meet him. You should write about Superman too!"

"Yeah, Superman is tight!" Troy picked up a red crayon. "I'm writing about him."

Kailey chimed in. "I'm writing about Superman. He's way better than Batman!"

"He is not!" Ashton declared. "Batman has the batmobile. Superman doesn't have that."

"Yeah," Ethan added his two cents. "Batman's costume is cooler, too. He's dressed up like a bat!" He flipped to the next page in his journal. "I'm changing what I'm writing about to Batman!"

Rudy came to Superman's defense. "I got to talk to Superman. Superman is so much cooler than Batman. He saves people, he can fly and his costume has red in it." He picked up a crayon. "Red's my favorite color!"

Lois smiled at the children's dispute. "Red is Superman's favorite color too."

"It is?" Rudy was in awe. "Awesome! Superman and me have the same favorite color!"

"Batman's still better than Superman. Right, Teacher?" Ashton looked at Lois to settle the matter. "I mean, come on…the batmobile."

All talking ceased as every child in the room was curious about their teacher's stance on the issue.

Although Lois was still angry with Clark, she was so very proud of him and all that he did for the world. It warmed her heart to see so many of these children admire and respect him.

If only she could command that same respect…

Her eyes glassed as she responded to the question. "Although Batman does have a pretty neat car," She smiled at Ashton, "I'd have to say that Superman is the best, hands down. He's caring and does everything within his power to help the world. He loves his friends and family. He's honest, true and good. He wants everyone to have a fair chance…"

"I know what Superman does!"

Lois was startled out of her thoughts and was surprised to hear herself being quoted.

"He fights for truth, justices and the American way. Right, Ms. Cochran?"

"That's right, Maggie. Where did you hear that phrase?"

Maggie smiled. "My mom read it to me. She has this old picture and words from some….I don't remember what it's called."

"Newspaper?" Lois supplied.

"Yeah! Newspaper!" Maggie grinned. "My mom has this picture from some newspaper about when Superman first came. It's pretty neat. Superman looks even cooler in real life than he does in the picture." She picked up a blue crayon. "I'm going to draw Superman." Maggie smiled at Rudy as she began to draw. "I like Superman's costume too. Don't you like it, Ms. Cochran?"

Lois closed her eyes a moment and imagined the soft material against her check. She could practically hear the sound of his cape floating in the wind. The warm safe feeling that she always felt when she was in his arms came rushing over her. She opened her eyes. "Yes, I like his costume."

She looked around the room at the children. "If you guys hurry up and finish your journals. I'll tell you how he got his costume."

The chatter exploded in a bunch of 'no ways,' 'reallys,' and 'cools,' before they all quickly went to work.

Lois smiled and headed back into the hallway to check on Kim's class. Most were still hard at work. One child was waiting at the door for her. "I'm finished. Can I show my journal to you?"

"Sure." Lois knelt down to look at the boy's journal. His words were large and spaced oddly over two pages, written in crayon. It read: i fik Alex iz fune. Heduz caze fgs. heizasile boy!

Lois looked at the little boy. "Why don't you read it to me." She didn't have a clue as to what it said.

"Okay." He traced his finger under his words. "I think Alex is funny. He does crazy things. He is a silly boy!" The small child pushed his glasses up on his nose. "I copied the last word from the bathrooms. That way I can spell it right."

Lois wasn't sure she agreed with the child's journal, but she praised his work anyway.

They both looked up as they heard someone approaching. Kim ruffled the boy's head. "Good job, Corley. Go and put your journal up and then you may get a marker board or a book until lunchtime."

The boy skipped back into the classroom and Lois rose to talk to Kim. "Where's Alex?"

"Mrs. Davis has him. She's calling his parents." She was laughing again. "And don't worry the office thinks this is funny too."

Lois looked down the hallway and through the office windows. Chloe was l wiping tears from her eyes and fighting laughter until she met Lois' stare. She quickly sobered and looked down at her computer. Her body, however, gave her away as it shook slightly.

Lois narrowed her eyes, still not finding humor in Alex's behavior. She'd deal with Chloe's treachery later.

Lois thanked Kim for her help as the women parted ways into their own classrooms. There was a line of students waiting for Lois at the door. They were all finished and ready to read their journals to her.

Lois made her way to the rocking chair and listened to each child one by one. Most children wrote about Superman. The sentences varied slightly, but they all portrayed the student's adoring thoughts about their hero.

Lois looked up to see Elianna next in line. Her hair was lopsided due to Alex's impromptu haircut. She read her journal to Lois. "I miss my brother. I wish he would come home from the doctors."

Lois mind raced as she felt the familiar tickle at the end of her neck, signaling that she was on to something. "What's your brother's name?"

Elianna sighed. "Christian. He's been at the hospital for a long time."

"Christian? As in Christian Anciso?" Lois' mind processed the information. She had looked at the classroom roll. Elianna's last name was different, but in this day and age that wasn't unusual. Maybe being placed in kindergarten today wasn't a complete waste of time.

Elianna nodded.

"I'm sorry that your brother is sick." Lois placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I know that he's been at the hospital for almost two weeks. I bet that's kind of scary."

Elianna shook her head. "Can I go put my journal up now?"

Lois nodded and filed the latest information in the back of her mind. She would have to keep tabs on Elianna.

Maggie rushed to Lois, pushing in front of all the other children who all protested and let Lois know, Maggie was cutting.

"I'm done. Here's my picture of Superman." Maggie shoved her colorful picture of Clark into Lois' face and then quickly withdrew it. "See. I'm going to put my journal up now."

"Hold it." Lois grabbed the journal and studied the beautiful drawing. "Maggie, your picture is wonderful, but there are no words. Where is your sentence?"

"Oh, you see we don't actually have to write sentences." She pulled the journal to her chest and backed away from Lois. "Mrs. Matthews says pictures are good enough."

Lois rose from the chair before telling the other students to put their journals on her desk and she would look at them soon. She asked the students go and get a book before placing a firm hand on Maggie's shoulder. "Hold it." She crouched to Maggie's level. "Nice try, sister. Why didn't you write about your picture."

Maggie huffed as she threw the journal to the ground. "I can't do it! I can't spell the words."

Lois picked up the discarded journal. "Maybe I can help you. I don't spell very well either."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Yea right. All adults can spell."

"I can't." Lois smoothed the wrinkled page. "Just ask my edit--, my editing computer. I have to use spell check all the time."

Maggie gave Lois a funny look.

"Come here." Lois grabbed Maggie's hand and led her back to the teacher's desk. She pushed the other journals to the side and set Maggie's down in front of her. "Watch." Lois picked up a pen and began sounding out the beginning of the word Superman. "SSSS," She looked at Maggie. "What do you hear first?"

Maggie tried for herself. "SSSSS—S! Superman starts with an S!"

Lois wrote the S and began saying the next sound.

"Ooooo." Maggie mimicked. "O?" Her brow furrowed. "No, U! The next letter is a U!"

"That's right." Lois printed the next letter.

Together Lois and Maggie sounded out the word Superman and wrote it in Maggie's journal.

Maggie looked at the journal with pride. Suprmn. "Is that how you really spell it?"

Lois smiled. "That's how it sounds and it's okay if your words aren't spelled correctly. You're still learning."

Maggie picked up the pencil and Lois watched as the girl sounded out the rest of her message.

After a few minutes Maggie looked up and timidly showed Lois what she had written: Suprmnizdubst. "Superman is the best!"

Lois pointed to the end of the sentence. "Don't forget to put your period at the end of your sentence.'

Maggie complied and studied her work. She then let out an enthusiastic whoop of joy. "I did it!" She jumped in the air. "I wrote a sentence!"

Lois startled when Maggie turned and threw her arms around her. "Ms. Cochran, you're the best!"

Lois awkwardly returned the hug, patting Maggie's back.

Maggie let go and grinned at Lois. "Will you be here tomorrow?"

Lois refrained from telling the girl that she would rather be buried alive. Instead she said, "We'll see."

Maggie's smile grew. "If you're here will you help me write another sentence?"

Lois smiled back. "It's a deal."

Maggie again hugged Lois this time Lois received the hug with grace. She watched as the energetic girl ran across the room, journal in hand, announcing to her classmates that she had just written a sentence.

Lois smiled to herself. Maybe Perry would live after all….

Isabelle, a very quiet girl, poked Lois' shoulder. "Teacher, I'm done." She handed Lois her journal and read it to her.

Lois patted her head and told Isabelle that she had done a great job when Isabelle looked at her and deadpanned. "I just wet my pants."

Lois pulled her chair back in horror and looked down at the girl. Sure enough she was wet.

Then again, there were many ways to torture Perry.

She sighed and rose from the chair gesturing for Isabelle to follow her. "Come on. Let's go see my new best friend, the school nurse."

She looked at the clock and thanked the heavens that she only had ten minutes until lunch. She was ready for a break.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Big thanks to my betas: Jade and Carol! You guys are the best!**

**Chapter Six**

"Hey look, it's my sister Maya!" Maggie pointed to the office at a girl who resembled herself and waved. "Hey Maya!" Much to Maggie's dismay, her sister did not hear or see her. Maggie's gestures became even more exaggerated as her voice rose several levels. "Maya!"

"Maggie, get back in line." Lois sighed and looked at her watch.

If she could just get them outside…..

"Can I go in and say hi to Maya?" Maggie was already halfway to the office door.

"Not right now, Maggie. Now get in line and be quiet so that we can go to recess."

Maggie obeyed and stepped back into place.

The silence only lasted a short moment.

"You know why she's in the office?" Maggie didn't wait for a response. "She's there to take her medicine." Maggie's hands were on her hips. "Don't forget, Ms. Cochran, I have to go take mine after recess."

There was no way she was going to forget. Maggie had only reminded Lois of this fact a dozen times since heading to lunch.

At Lois' promise not to forget, Maggie informed the class. "I had strep throat last Monday and now I have to take my "bubble gum" medicine for ten whole days. On Thursday Maya told Mom that she wasn't feeling good and that she needed to stay home." Maggie turned to the girl next to her. "And do you know what…Mom told her to suck it up and go to school. Mom thought she was faking it. Maya's done that before you know."

"Maggie, that's enough." Once the class was outside she'd have twenty minutes to herself, and Lois intended to enjoy every one of those blissful moments of peace. "Get back in line and hush."

Maggie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"My brother did that once, but I told on him." Kailey informed the class. Lois sighed. Of course she did.

Kailey shook her head. "He got in way big trouble."

"My brother faked being sick once too." Ashton piped in. "He got three spankings for it."

"Ms. Cochran wouldn't let me finish." Maggie looked pointedly at Lois before continuing her story. "I _said_ Mom _thought_ Maya was faking it. She got sent home from school with strep throat." Maggie's hands returned to her hips. "Mom had to take her to the doctor, and now Maya gets to take the bubble gum medicine too."

Lois gave up on walking the children quietly down the hallway as she saw her desired destination come into view, and she quickened her pace encouraging the children to follow suit. Lois had to push hard to get the large door to budge. As it squeaked open, she waved to Kim and the other teacher on recess duty and began ushering the students outside.

Maggie stopped next to Lois, shook her head and sighed dramatically. "Maya's lucky she's got more days left than me to take her medicine." Maggie looked up at Lois. "Don't forget…"

"Yeah, yeah….I'll send you to the office for your "bubble gum" medicine as soon as recess is over." The sarcastic tone was lost on Maggie.

Lois gestured towards the playground, "Go play before you don't have any time left."

Lois watched Maggie skip to the slide as the rest of the class filed through the rusty door.

"Wait a minute, mister." Lois brought Alex to a halt. "You get to go do your recess inside with Mrs. Davis. Remember?"

Alex scowled and blew a frustrated breath of air between his lips. "I was hoping you'd forget."

"Nice try, kid."

Alex kicked at the ground as Lois tugged on the door leading to the playground. "I had to eat lunch by myself, and now I have to go back to the office." He crossed his arms and grumbled. "This is the worst day ever!"

"I'll give you that." Lois muttered, guiding the large door closed.

"What?" Alex looked up at her.

"Nothing." Lois placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, I'll walk you there."

As they entered the office, Lois checked her watch again. She had 17 minutes. She pointed to the chair outside Mrs. Dawson's office and glanced at Chloe as Alex plopped into the seat.

Chloe was on the phone arguing with someone about an order that the school had placed weeks ago.

Lois walked over to Chloe and leaned over the hutch on her desk. "I need cash."

Chloe held up a finger. "I realize that, but you need to understand that this is an elementary school and we are almost out of white paper. Do you understand what exactly that means?"

She paused as she listened to the response on the other end. The serviceman must not have given the correct answer. Chloe's hand dropped and her tone became icy. "What? The order was placed almost six week ago and you're telling me it will be another two weeks before we receive the paper?"

She shot Lois an incredulous look as she waved her hand in the air and leaned forward on her desk. "Yes, I would like to speak to your manager!"

Lois looked back at her watch. Fifteen minutes…. "Chloe, cash?"

Chloe gestured to her purse as she continued to verbally attack the person on the other end of the phone.

Lois grabbed a couple dollars and rushed to the teacher's lounge behind the office.

As she rounded the corner into the lounge, she heard Mrs. Davis firmly tell Alex he'd better sit back in the seat or he'd be sorry. She entered the room and surveyed her options. She really wanted some hard liquor, but decided she'd have to make do with a diet soda and a Double Fudge Crunch Bar.

After purchasing her soda, Lois opened it and took a swig before placing it on the table next to the snack machine. She then deposited the remaining dollar into its slot. Lois expertly punched the numbers required to retrieve her chocolate and turned to get another sip of soda. She took a quick drink and waited for the satisfying thud, signaling the arrival of her treat.

It never came.

Lois placed her drink back on the table and turned back to face the candy machine. To her horror, she saw her chocolate, the thing that was going to get her through the rest of this horrid day, dangling from the metal clasp, refusing to take the plunge.

"You have got to be joking!"

She threw back her head and groaned before smacking her hand against the machine, desperately trying to get her treat. "Come on, give me a break!" She said between the sporadic slaps.

Lois gasped when she felt a familiar hand come over her own, ending her tantrum. She could feel his massive form behind her and her eyes squeezed shut when his breath tickled the back of her neck as he told her to let him help.

It was the first time she could remember in a very long time, not since they were kids themselves, Lois did not wish for his presence. Usually, he was such a comfort to her and could soothe her spirit with the smallest of gestures ….but not today.

Today emotions were raw and it was taking a great deal of effort to keep herself together. She was way past tired, heading straight towards deep exhaustion. Plus, she was still angry with him for the way he left things the night before.

And she really just wanted ten minutes of peace.

Was that too much to ask?

Lois schooled her features, squared her shoulders, and collected her emotions, filing them away as she gently pulled her slender hand away from his. She stepped aside and waved to the machine.

Without a word, Clark effortlessly lifted the side of the vender and dropped it quickly to the ground.

Lois could not contain her excitement as she watched the single candy bar fall to the bottom of the machine. "Yes! Finally!"

Her hand brushed against his as she gratefully accepted the candy bar. She smiled, a little embarrassed now by her outburst. "Thanks."

Clark shrugged and shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "You look like you really need it."

Lois opened the wrapper, sighing as she bit into her sweet refuge and devoured it with practiced expertise.

Clark watched her a moment as if debating on how to proceed. Lois felt an emotion slip out of place when she realized Clark, was just as miserable as she was, but she quickly reigned it back in. She could not afford to crumble right now.

Clark's features suddenly changed as he made a decision and he reached for her face, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Are you okay?"

She swallowed the rest of the chocolate, which had suddenly lost all taste. "I'm fine." She wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Lois?" He was unconvinced.

She allowed him to tilt her head upward and her eyes finally met his. Lois fought desperately to keep control as she finally relented. "It's been a bad day, Clark." She sighed. "I seem to be having them in spades lately."

Lois backed away and tossed her soda and candy wrapper into a nearby garbage can.

As she did so, her suit jacked opened revealing a large red stain.

"Lois, I—What happened to your shirt?"

"My shirt?" She looked down. "Oh. Ethan. I didn't' get out of the way fast enough when he threw his juice box in the trash."

Clark was at her side immediately and he fingered the discoloration on a favorite shirt.

She laughed flatly. "Apparently, you have to move fast during kindergarten lunch duty. Because if you don't, you are fair game, my friend. They won't hesitate to throw trash at you or on you….."

One hand stayed at her waist as the other returned to her face. He leaned in closer. "I'm sorry." His thumb traced small circles on her check. "I know you've had a terrible day and I know I'm partly to blame."

She glanced away and her eyes pooled when she brought them back to meet his. He was so close now that she could feel his breath on her cheek and his nose nuzzled her own.

Lois ignored the battle within.

His lips brushed hers and just as he was about to deepen the kiss, Lois suddenly jerked away, backing completely out of his reach. "No."

Clark's mind raced to catch up. "No?" He was confused. "You're angry."

"You're right, I'm angry." And her emotions finally won as several came spilling out. Lois looked at him accusingly. "You can't just kiss me, or touch me, or hug me and make it all go away, Clark…..You hung up on me."

"I said I'm sorry. What more can I say?"

"You don't get it." She shook her head at him. "It's not just that you hung up on me, but you wouldn't listen to me."

"I'm ready to listen now." He stepped towards her and Lois threw her arms up in a halting manner as she backed away from him and maneuvered herself behind a long wooden table in the center of the room.

"I don't want to talk about it right now. Can't you understand that?"

He felt his own anger began to rise. "What? So it's not okay for me to not want to talk about things, but it is alright for you?" He placed both hands on the table and leaned forward. "That doesn't seem fair."

"No, what's not fair is you picking terrible times to discuss important matters and bailing on me when I really needed you to listen." She placed her hands on the back of the chair in front of her and met his glare head on.

He threw his hands up and groaned. "What was I supposed to do? You had just dropped a huge, and very unfair I might add, bomb on me." He began to pace his side of the table. "How could you do that do me, Lois? You _know_ how important children are to me!"

"What were you supposed to do?" Her voice rose a level. "What were you supposed to do?" Her grip on the chair tightened and her knuckles lost all color. "Come on, Clark, there were lots of things you could have done. You could have listened to me last night when I needed you. Hell, you could have come over so that we could talk about it in person—"

"Yeah, in person!" He stopped his pacing and threw his hands up over his head. "About that,…There's a novel thought! In person. How do you think I felt hearing you tell me something like that over the phone and in someone else's house?"

Lois let loose a frustrated scream and threw her hands up. They stopped mid air, capturing her head in the middle. "Do you really think I wanted to tell you over the phone? You kept pushing me. Just like you are now." She dropped her hands. "Can't you respect the fact that I really don't want to talk about this at this particular moment?" She brought her hands back to her temple and began rubbing in soothing circles.

Lois threw Clark a scornful look. "Some ten minutes of peace. We'll talk about this later. I've got to go."

Clark watched her tall frame walk away from him and felt something inside him snap. "You're being a coward." He called to her as she approached the door and he knew as soon as the words had escaped his lips, he'd said the wrong thing.

She froze at the sting of his words and when she turned to face him she was seething. "How dare you." She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. The tears she fought this time were not tears of sorrow. "How _dare_ you. You really don't understand." And with that she turned and exited the room.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"He's just so incredibly cute!" Beth Riley gushed to her best friend and co-worker. "We are talking out of this world adorable. I mean, he's got the gorgeous puppy-dog eyes, he's well built, and the way his hair falls over his forehead….."

Lindsay Bower had never seen her friend so smitten. "He hasn't been by my room, yet. Maybe I'll get to see him this afternoon."

"He seems like the shy type, which makes him even more endearing." Beth fiddled with the dollar in her hand before placing it in her pocket.

"Ms. Bower," a frustrated voice called.

Lindsay stopped and turned to face one of her students. "Maya? What are you doing in the hall? I sent you to the nurse fifteen minutes ago. You are supposed to be at lunch."

Maya sighed, irritated at having to explain herself, and walked the rest of the distance so that she was standing in front of the women. "I already saw Mrs. Hill. Then I went back to our room. And now I can't find my lunchbox."

Beth turned to Lindsay. "I saw Kylie carrying two lunchboxes. She said one was for Maya."

Lindsay placed her hand on Maya's shoulder. "Go to the cafeteria and find Kylie. You'd better hurry. You only have about ten minutes left of lunch."

Maya huffed and headed to the cafeteria. "Well, she could have at least told me she was going to get my lunch."

Beth hid her smirk and whispered to Lindsay. "From what Kylie told me, Maya asked her to take the lunch with her."

"Oh, that girl." Lindsay sighed. "She is going to drive me to drink. I swear, she would lose her head if it wasn't attached."

The women watched Maya scurry down the hallway before Beth resumed her description of the attractive repairman and they headed into the office. The women smiled at the new secretary and laughed as they passed a young boy sitting in a chair across from the principal's office. He was obviously bored, flying an imaginary plane to pass the time.

They continued their discussion as they rounded the corner, heading towards the teachers' lounge and were almost run over by a frazzled brunette. Beth and Lindsay stopped and eyed the tall, slender woman. She wore a tailored suit that was now wrinkled and stained, and her pantyhose had numerous runs down the back of her legs. Lindsay elbowed Beth and raised her eyebrows as she looked pointedly at the young woman's feet. She was wearing expensive heels. Beth just shook her head and watched the woman snap her fingers, commanding the little boy to follow her.

"Wow. She's had better days." Beth looked at Lindsay and shook her head disapprovingly. "I mean look at her. She's really letting those kids get to her."

"Oh, you're one to talk. You would hate being stuck in kindergarten." Lindsay retorted before it dawned on her, "Hey, wasn't she supposed to be our new tutor?"

Beth nodded as the women resumed walking and made their way to the lounge.

Lindsay placed her hand on the door ready to pull it open when Beth grabbed her arm, stopping her. "That's him."

"Who?"

"Will you please, keep up?" Beth feigned annoyance and smiled. "That's my future husband."

Lindsay peered through the narrow, rectangular window. "Oh, he is cute!" She watched him plop into a chair by one of the tables and place his head in his hands. Lindsay frowned. "Aww, he looks like he's having a rough day too."

"I wonder what's wrong." Beth watched him carefully. "He looks so sad."

Lindsay nudged her friend. "Why don't you go and try to cheer him up?" Her smile suddenly became wider. "Oh, wait. I've got an even better idea. You should invite him to come to Rosita's with us."

Beth suddenly became shy. "I don't know….He probably doesn't want to come to happy hour with a bunch of women."

"Come on! It would be a good way to get to know him. Lacey's coming. We could go by her room and tell her she needs to make sure her boyfriend comes so that he's not the only guy there." Lindsay gestured to the repairman.

When Beth didn't say anything Lindsay made a decision. "Okay, then I guess you're forfeiting the 'I saw him first' rights." She placed her hand back onto the door handle. "I'll ask him."

Beth grabbed Lindsay's wrist. "Nice try."

Lindsay grinned. "Great. You go in and talk to him and I'll go by Lacey's room. She should be taking her second graders to music right about now."

Beth glanced at her watch. "We'd better hurry. Our break is almost over. Will you grab my class, and I'll meet you all outside for recess?"

Lindsay nodded and turned to walk back through the office. "I'll meet you in five. Good luck!"

Beth smiled and fluffed her hair before entering the room.

----

Clark paced the length of the long table, needing to move. His conversation with Lois had not gone as planned. When she had stormed from the room, Clark had started to go after her, but he thought better of it, deciding she needed time to cool down. _He_ still needed to cool down.

Clark hated that he'd lost his temper, hurting Lois in the process. He hated the conflicting urge to both scream at Lois and to hold her close in an attempt to ease her sorrow. But mostly, he hated that she wouldn't talk to him.

How had they come to this?

Two days ago, he and Lois had been happy. He'd been content to gaze at her from across the room and dream of one day creating a family. He could picture himself teaching their son or daughter to ride a bike or tie a shoe. He would think about how Lois would interact with their future child, smiling to himself when he thought of how overprotective she would be. Lois Lane's love was fierce for those she deemed worthy.

And now…..now Clark didn't know what to think.

He dropped into the nearest chair and scrubbed his face with his hands, resting his elbows on the table.

How was Clark supposed to understand where she was coming from when she wouldn't talk to him?

Clark thought of all that they had been through together.

When they had first started dating, Lois still hadn't known about Superman, and she had been frustrated on many occasions. Communication between the two, or lack thereof, had been a major problem. Clark would disappear suddenly, and he had not been able to tell her what he was doing. He had hurt her numerous times by omitting parts of his life.

In fact, it had almost been their breaking point.

But, the day he and Lois cleared the air on the fact that he did indeed moonlight in tights, their relationship changed drastically. They had agreed to always be open with one another even, if the subject matter was hard to say or hear.

And to Clark's surprise, it had been an easy promise to keep. They wanted to tell each other everything. They looked forward to their long talks and nothing was taboo.

They had even mastered the art of unspoken dialogue. Co-workers and colleagues often commented on how eerie it was to watch the two of them carry on a complete conversation without once exchanging words.

And now she was shutting him out.

The more Clark focused on the issue, the more dominant his anger became. He raised his fist and stopped short, just before it came into contact with the thin surface above his knees.

It would do no good to turn the fragile table into toothpicks.

Clark really wished someone would call for help. He didn't care what it was for. He just needed to do something, _anything_: put out a fire, rescue a cat, he'd even umpire a baseball game.

He rose from his chair, lost in thought, and resolved to find some constructive way to vent his frustrations. Maybe he would fly around the globe a few times.

He placed his hand on the door handle and jumped back when it swung open revealing the young teacher he had helped earlier. Clark racked his brain to remember her name as he composed his features in an attempt to return his thoughts to the story instead of his fight with Lois. "Um, hi…."

Beth flashed her biggest smile. "Hey, Al." She squeezed past him, making sure to brush her hand against his arm as she did so. She went straight to soda machine and purchased a diet soda. "You're a godsend! My television is working perfectly."

Clark ran his hand over the back of his neck and glanced at the ground, still a little thrown at having to switch gears so quickly. He took a deep breath before answering making sure his voice was even and without anger. "Really…" Her name finally came to him, "It's not big deal, Ms. Riley."

"It's Beth. Remember?" She leaned against the coke machine, opened her soda, and took a quick drink, licking her lips as she set the can on a nearby table. "You wouldn't know how to fix the candy machine would you? It always eats my dollar."

Clark stared for a moment at the snack vendor, jaw set, and said somewhat distracted, "Yeah, I've witnessed it myself."

Beth stepped closer to him and rested her arm on his shoulder. "Oh, no. It ate your dollar?"

"It was nothing. It actually ate…." He paused, barely able to get the words out in a smooth tone. "….It ate another teacher's dollar. I just hit it on the side and she managed to get her snack."

Beth laughed. "I'll have to try that."

She looked up at him, completely oblivious to the emotions he was attempting to control and removed her hand from his arm.

He was still looking at the vending machine.

"Listen, I really do want to thank you for all your help today. Several teachers are going to Rosita's after school. They have the best margaritas in town and it comes with free chips and queso." Beth tucked some stray hair behind her ears and smiled before placing her hand back on his shoulder, running it halfway down, stopping just above his elbow.

Clark's line of vision snapped from the snack vendor to the hand on his shoulder, and his fight with Lois faded into the background as he suddenly realized Beth's intentions.

"I'd love to buy you a drink." Beth looked at Clark expectantly.

"Well…" Clark hesitated. He wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

Beth's hand slid back up to his shoulder. "They also have great Mexican food. So, you know, we could eat afterwards if it all goes well."

Maybe he would learn something in meeting with some of the teachers after school; he didn't have to stay for dinner.

Clark relented, "I guess that would be okay."

Beth's smile was radiant. "Great!" She turned and picked up her soda before brushing past him a second time. "Come by my room when you get a chance and I'll give you directions to the restaurant."

Clark nodded and watched her walk towards the front office. He wondered briefly how Lois would react to this part of the undercover assignment before concluding that at this particular moment, he didn't care.

He was pursuing a lead, and if Lois could decide, without consulting him, that children were not in his future, then he could have a drink without her guidance.

----

Chloe sighed and sent her email to Perry, not that there was much to tell. She hadn't seen Clark since he made his 'super' appearance but she was sure Lois' day had been a bust.

Her own day hadn't been much better. She had hoped to spend more time digging around in the school's computer files but was continually interrupted by secretarial matters. When she did have a few moments to concentrate on the story, the school's computer would be slow in loading its programs. By the time Chloe was able to pull a small shred of information, someone would walk into the office and she'd have to close what she was working on, starting the entire cycle over again.

To make matters worse, upon returning to the house, Jerry had informed the women that he had no luck in finding a sub; Lois would be back in kindergarten tomorrow.

Chloe closed her laptop before heading to her room to change out of her work clothes and stopped short when she heard someone talking.

"Just trust me, Lois……Ha! Famous last words"

Chloe winced as she heard something bang against the wall.

"They know what they're doing…..You'll be fine, Lois."

There was loud slam followed by the sound of something heavy crashing to the ground.

"Come on, Lois, they're just a bunch of kids. They're harmless…..Harmless my—"

Chloe rapped on the door and entered the room.

"Lois…"

Chloe's mouth hung open as whatever she was about to say became lost in the chaotic scene before her. The trundle bed was shoved halfway under the daybed, where Lois' wrinkled suit was strewn in pieces, and a shredded pair of nylons peeked over the top of a nearby trashcan. The contents of her suitcase and multiple Double Fudge Crunch Bar wrappers littered the floor.

"Your day was worse than I thought."

Lois narrowed her eyes, and the look Chloe received could have peeled wallpaper.

"That bad?"

Lois' lips tightened as she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows, daring Chloe to continue the line of conversation at her own risk.

Chloe raised her hands in a submissive manner. "Okay, I'm waving the white flag here."

She carefully entered the room stepping around the candy wrappers and piles of clothes before settling on the edge of the bed, fingering Lois' rumpled jacket.

Lois pulled a light sweater from her bag and jerked it over her tank top and Chloe was surprised it didn't tear.

"I swear, Perry is going to suffer for this. I'm talking major payback." The look on Lois' face held more malice than Chloe would have liked. "I mean does that man know what I'm capable of? I just need a little superglue, a screwdriver and economy roll of duct tape…."

Chloe made a mental note to warn Perry in her next email. He might want to hide all precious materials. Lois wasn't feared on numerous army bases for nothing.

"And don't even get me started on Clark….." Lois grumbled at her cousin.

Chloe held her tongue. She had her own thoughts on that subject but refrained from voicing them at that particular moment in order to spare her own life. She watched her cousin angrily stomp around the room a moment longer before making a snap decision.

She rose and grabbed Lois by the wrist. "Get your purse."

Lois was confused. "Where are we going?"

"Come on." Chloe handed Lois her purse and grabbed her own as she lead Lois towards the door. "I know just what you need."

Lois pulled her arm free from Chloe's grasp. "Seriously, where are we going? Because I'm in no mood to be chipper. Mary Poppins has left the building."

Well, that was obvious.

Lois kicked her suitcase. "I'm perfectly willing to stay here."

"And do what?" Chloe crossed her arms. "Destroy what's left of this room while you plan Perry's demise and eat your weight in chocolate?"

"Sound good to me," Lois huffed.

Chloe would not be swayed. "Come on. We are going out."

Lois opened her mouth.

"We don't have to talk about your day," Chloe answered Lois' question before she had a chance to ask it, "or Clark."

"What do you say?" Chloe raised an eyebrow at her cousin. "I overheard several teachers talking about this great little Mexican restaurant that's close to the school."

Chloe was rewarded with half a smile.

Lois placed her purse on her shoulder. "Well, I could use a drink…."

"Great." Chloe threw her arm around Lois' shoulder and guided her out the door. "Apparently, their margaritas are to die for…"


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Clark smiled awkwardly at the woman next to him and pulled his chair back to give himself some more space before turning his attention back to other ladies around the table. Lindsay was griping about how poorly some of her students had performed on their pre-test, and the two teachers on either side of her were nodding in sympathy.

Clark took another swallow of his drink and surveyed the colorful restaurant. Most of the tables were occupied, and it was obvious that Rosita's was a popular hang-out. The noise level was high but not so loud that it was impossible to hear the discussion at his table.

Not that the conversation at his table had been very enlightening. Clark was sitting at a large round table with Beth on his right, two empty chairs on his left, and three teachers across from him. There was supposed to have been a fourth teacher with her boyfriend, but due to a minor family emergency, they had been unable to make it. Therefore, Clark had spent the last half hour listening to four of the third and fourth grade teachers complain about some major test that was coming up.

Clark sighed. He'd learned three things during his time at the restaurant. He now knew more than he cared to know about Texas' testing standards, that Lindsay hated guacamole, and that single men were few and far between in this town.

Useless information: three. Things relevant to the story: zip.

Beth continued to smile and flirt with him, making Clark very uncomfortable. He shifted his gaze away from hers, and it landed on the television at the bar. It was muted, and the newscaster's words scrolled across the bottom.

No new information there either. The newscaster was reporting on the latest change in weather. Apparently, it was supposed to rain tomorrow.

Beth placed her hand on Clark's elbow. "Enough about work, guys. Poor Al's probably bored stiff."

Clark looked back at Beth, strategically moving his arm as he reached for a chip. "Oh, it's okay. I like hearing about your work." He dipped the chip in the large bowel of queso. "Tell me more about your students."

Beth smiled and watched him pop the chip in his mouth as Nora began talking about one of her fourth grader's journal entry of the day.

He was perfect. Not only was he gorgeous, but he was getting along well with her friends, and he actually liked to hear about her students at school. The last guy she had dated hated when she'd go on and on about her children.

She watched him actively listen to what Nora was saying. He was in the middle of asking Nora about one of her students when he stopped mid-sentence and his line of vision moved to the restaurant's entry way.

All of the women at the table turned to look at the door before exchanging confused looks with one another. There was no one there.

Beth looked back at Al, who was shaking his head and muttering something under his breath.

----

Chloe sighed as she closed the car door and watched Lois slam her own. Although Lois had sworn that the day's activities were not up for discussion, she had ranted during the entire drive about the terrors of working with five-year-olds, which had only succeeded in winding her tighter.

Chloe really hoped that her information was correct about this place. Lois really needed something to calm her down and Chloe was hoping that a margarita or five would do the trick.

"…and I swear, Kailey better be absent or mute tomorrow, because if I have to listen to her tattling, I can not be held liable for my actions…." Lois' tirade was in full force as Chloe directed her into the restaurant, nodding sympathetically to pacify her cousin.

"….I'm serious, Chlo. She's lucky I couldn't find any tape today. Which reminds me, we need to stop by a hardware store or—"

Chloe winced as she ran into her cousin and bounced slightly backwards. "Geez! Lois—," she stopped talking when she saw her cousin's stoic expression and turned see where Lois was looking.

Oh, crap…..

Chloe looked back at her when she heard Lois verbalize what she herself had just been thinking, except Lois' words were far more colorful.

Lois looked at Chloe, barely containing her fury. "What the hell kind of joke is this?" She suddenly found her legs, as she threw her arms in the air and headed for the door.

"Lois, I didn't know he was going to be here. I swear." Chloe looked back at Clark and the women at his table.

Damn, one teacher was waving them over.

"Well, I'm out of here!" Lois' hand was almost at the door when Chloe threw her arms around Lois' shoulders and steered her back to the restaurant's entryway.

"We can't just leave now. We've been spotted and they want us to join them." Chloe had to muster all her strength to keep Lois from bolting from restaurant. "Clark's probably working on getting more information for the story. We need to play nice and do the same."

Lois continued to struggle against Chloe's grasp as she fought the war raging inside of her. On one hand, she wasn't a star reporter at the Daily Planet for nothing. On the other hand, the odds were better that Perry to give up his Elvis obsession before she would be able to sit at that table and be civil.

Her eyes narrowed when she saw one teacher inch closer to Clark. Lois' eyes locked with his and their famous nonverbal communication was back in full force.

Chloe almost fell over when Lois suddenly quit struggling, squared her shoulders, and walked resolutely towards Clark, nearly running a young hostess over.

Chloe called an apology to the hostess and declined the young lady's invitation to be seated at a booth as she hurried to keep up with Lois.

"Remember, we don't know Al…," Chloe said under clenched teeth and a fake smile. She directed her next sentence to the table in front of her, "Nice meeting you here. You all work at Creek Side. Right?"

The teacher that had called them over glanced between Lois and Clark who had not broken eye contact before answering Chloe's question. "Yes we all work there. I'm Lindsay Bower. This is Nora Keeling," she gestured to the woman on her left. "Megan Shannon," she pointed to the woman on her right, before continuing on with blonde next to Megan, "Beth Riley and Al Dolan," Lindsay finished her introductions with Clark, who was still looking at Lois.

The table held an uncomfortable silence as three of the four teachers looked between Lois and Clark. Beth, however, was unaware as she placed her hand on Clark's elbow and ran it down his forearm. This didn't even register with Clark as he and Lois stared each other down.

Lindsay cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. Do you already know each other?"

Chloe laughed humorlessly, "No we don't." She coughed and nudged Lois who finally looked away from Clark to glare at her cousin. "I'm Nell Bly and this is Liz Cochran. We're new in town."

"Well, you picked the right place. Rosita's is the best." Nora, ignoring the tension in the air, gestured to the empty chairs next to Clark. "Why don't you get some drinks and join us?"

"That'd be great." Chloe flashed another smile and thanked the heavens for southern hospitality as she pulled Lois towards the bar.

"Seriously, Lois, I'm going to need some help here," Chloe said as she waved down a bartender. "You have got to put this thing with Clark on hold."

Lois rolled her eyes and huffed, "I can do this, Chloe."

Chloe ordered their drinks before turning to Lois, making sure to keep the irritation out of her tone. "I hope so. I don't want to spend the evening playing Judge Judy. We need to find out what these teachers know."

Lois grabbed her margarita from the waiter and took a long drink. "They will never know what I'm thinking. Professionalism is my middle name."

Chloe picked up her drink and followed Lois back to the table and sighed. "Right."

She hurried making sure to place herself as a physical barrier between Lois and Clark, sitting between them.

"You were supposed to be our tutor before getting whisked away, right? How is life in kindergarten?" Megan asked Lois.

Chloe looked at Lois and took a big drink.

Lois shifted her body so that it was away from Clark as much as physically possible as she answered Megan's question. "It's not for me, that's for sure. They have no understanding of personal space. They never sit still. And, I'm pretty sure that Mrs. Davis will be getting a phone call from Elianna's mom since Alex cut her hair."

"You have my sympathy, believe me. I could never teach the little ones," Megan replied.

"They are a handful," Lois agreed as she took another long drink, ignoring the looks she knew Clark was sending her way.

"Oh and you have Alex. I had his brother last year." Beth added as she placed her hand on Clark's thigh causing him to jump and edge closer to Chloe.

Chloe shot Clark a look, and he shrugged apologetically as she again thanked the heavens; Lois hadn't seen Beth's latest advancement.

Beth wasn't fazed by Clark's reaction. She liked it when they played hard to get. She reached for a chip as she continued her thought. "Don't let Alex get you down. Trouble runs in his family."

Lois flipped her hair over her shoulder and reached for the chips. "Actually, it wasn't Alex that drove me nuts this afternoon—after all the stunts he pulled, he spent most of the day in the office. It was Kailey, who never shuts up, and Maggie."

"Oh, I have Maggie's sister, Maya, in my class." Lindsay commented. "She's the biggest airhead. She almost missed lunch because she couldn't remember where she put her lunchbox."

"Well, Maggie doesn't forget anything." Lois took another drink. "I think she reminded me a thousand times that she needed to take her "bubble gum" medicine. I mean she went on and on about how great that stuff tastes."

"Oh really?" Lindsay made a face. "It's all I can do to get Maya to go down to the office to take her medicine. She says it's nasty."

"Maggie would gladly take it for her," Lois commented.

"She sounds cute," Nora observed.

Lois took another long drink. "Sure she's cute. She's also mouthy, bossy, stubborn, rude, and once she sets her mind on something, there's no talking her out of it."

Clark finally cracked, shooting Lois a challenging look. "Yeah, I know someone like that. I can see how those qualities would be infuriating."

Lois turned abruptly and narrowed her eyes at Clark, facing him head on. "At least she sticks to what she knows is right."

"Wow, these drinks are great." Chloe quickly gulped her drink down and grimaced at the brain freeze that followed. "Who could use another one?"

Clark leaned forward and his voice rose. "How does she know that it's right if she's too stubborn to listen to those around her?"

Chloe surveyed the confused looks of the teachers at her table; even Beth's brow was wrinkled.

"Because she's also incredibly smart," Lois' tone was frigid as she punctuated the last word, moving towards Clark, causing Chloe to lean back, "and she knows what she's doing."

Chloe tried to wedge her way back in between the two. "Refills, anyone?"

"Smart not the word I would use." Clark inched closer to Lois so that they were almost nose to nose.

"Oh, really? What word would you use?" Lois' eyes narrowed further.

"I don't know. Pig-headed comes to mind..."

Lois opened her mouth then suddenly yelped and moved back at a speed that on any other day would have made Clark proud. Chloe had knocked over the nearest drink, almost dumping it into Lois' lap.

"Chlo—se call." Lois caught herself before it was too late.

"Whoops. Clumsy me." Chloe laughed, nervously and said through a tight grin to the people on either side of her, "Al. Liz. Will you come to the bar with me so that we can get some refills?"

She looked back at the remaining people at her table. Every one of them had similar looks and several mouths hung open. Chloe flashed them an Academy Award winning smile. "We'll be right back."

She grabbed both Lois and Clark by the arms dragging them both to the bar. "That's enough!" Chloe seethed. "Are the two of you trying to ruin our cover?"

Lois and Clark glanced at each other before crossing their arms and turning their gaze to respective spots on the ground.

"You two had better come to some kind of truce or, I swear, I am going to lock you both in the nearest room and finish this story with whoever comes out the winner. Do I make myself clear?" Chloe crossed her arms, restraining herself from strangling the both of them.

Clark looked at Lois with an unreadable expression. "Fine."

"Fine." Lois matched his look.

Chloe looked between the two. "Fine."

Chloe grabbed the tray of fresh drinks and gave one last warning look to the couple in front of her before heading back to the table. "I mean it."

Clark gestured for Lois to go ahead of him. She rolled her eyes and marched behind Chloe.

By the time he got to the table Chloe was working to smooth things over. "Sorry, my cousin has really had a bad day and she's having trouble not taking it out on everyone around her."

Clark sighed. "My day hasn't been much better." He looked at all the women, minus Lois. "Sorry for bringing you into it."

Beth's hand was back at his shoulder. "Oh, do you want to talk about it?"

Lois looked Beth and rolled her eyes.

Clark's eyes never left Lois. "I think it's better if I don't."

Lois huffed and Chloe kicked her under the table as she handed out the fresh drinks.

Chloe tried, unsuccessfully, to steer the conversation back to the students. But the window of opportunity was gone, as the four teachers kept their replies short, all the while eyeing Lois and Clark, who stayed silent for the rest of the evening.

Suddenly, Clark's features became impassive. The rest of the table turned to see what he was watching.

The bartender had turned up the volume on the television.

The storm that they were expecting tomorrow had come early and lightning had struck several trees in a nearby community. Firefighters were on the scene but having trouble keeping the fire at bay.

Clark rose fumbling for an excuse to leave. He looked at Chloe and then Lois for help.

Lois held his look before rolling her eyes and saving him. "It's late."

Chloe sighed. This interview was beyond dead anyway. "Oh you're right. Would you look at the time?"

Clark played along, glancing at his watch. "Yeah, the Dawsons are probably expecting me back. Can I ride with you since it's on the same block?" Clark directed his last statement to Chloe.

Beth rose, placing her hand on Clark's shoulder. "I'll give you a ride."

"No!" three voices said in unison with very different tones.

Beth jumped, taken aback.

Clark was the first to respond. "It's not on your way."

Followed closely by Lois, "Kim was talking about making you some fancy dinner."

And Chloe through into the mix, "It's just across the street from the Wrights' house. We don't mind."

Beth looked carefully between all three, stopping at Clark. "Okay. Well, then I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow it is," he said quickly as he grabbed his jacket. "Thanks for inviting me."

As he followed Lois and Chloe out the restaurant, he distinctly heard Lindsay tell Beth that he was obviously taken and that she should give him up.

Great. He and Lois had ruined part of their cover.

Lois was already in the car, arms crossed and door shut by the time he reached them.

It was just starting to sprinkle.

Chloe looked at him. "Be careful."

He nodded before glancing one last time at Lois. She wouldn't meet his gaze. And then he ran behind the restaurant and took off.

Chloe sighed and walked around to the driver's seat.

She had barely opened the door before Lois started in on her. "Can you believe him? He is ruining our story—:"

"That's it!" Chloe had had enough She turned to Lois. "I have a hole in my tongue, thanks to you two. I'm going to say this one thing, and then I'm done. I'm staying out of it."

Lois opened her mouth, but Chloe cut her off.

"You're both acting like children. Yes, Clark picked a terrible time to try and talk to you today, but at least he's trying. You, on the other hand, refuse to talk to him. How is he supposed to understand when you shut him out?"

"Chloe I told you before that—"

"Yes, you've talked to me some, but I'm not the one you should be talking to. Clark loves you more than anything, and he wants to resolve this thing between you. In fact, if you were honest with him and talked to him, he'd probably agree to remain childless. He loves you that much. It would tear him to pieces, but he'd do it because he loves you. Don't you get that?"

Lois fought the tears that were coming far too easy these days. "Of course I get that."

"Then grow-up and talk to your husband." Chloe started the car and was startled when she heard the door open. "Lois what are you doing?"

"I think I'm going to walk home." Lois reached into the back seat of the car and grabbed a jacket.

"Lois."

"No, I'm okay Chloe. You're right and I need to do some thinking. The walk will do me some good. Save me some dinner?"

She nodded as Lois shut the door and the rain started to poor.

Chloe sighed as she watched her cousin pull the hood over her head and fighting her inner demons.


	10. Chapter 9

**Thanks so much to my beta, Jade! **

**Please read and review!**

**Chapter Nine**

Lois sighed as she stood on the fresh sidewalk and watched three kindergarten classes enjoy their recess on the dark concrete. They reminded her of little ants, sprawled all over and constantly moving. Many children were playing with jump-ropes, as others practiced their hula-hooping skills, while some were content to doodle on the sidewalk with large colorful pieces of chalk.

She nodded her head only half listening to Julie, the other kindergarten teacher, chatter on about her new puppy.

"He's just the cutest little thing. I mean yesterday he was chasing his tail and….."

Although the rain had only lasted long enough to make the playground muddy, the thunder and lightning had stayed long into the night.

Lois turned her gaze to the sky halfway hoping to catch a glimpse of Clark. It was still overcast, and the dark grey clouds matched her mood. They turned and swirled as the grays shifted into deep blues. Moisture hung in the air threatening to fall.

She nodded again as Julie switched the subject, if only slightly, to dog names.

"I just can't decide between Tigger, Buster, and Dusty….."

Lois bobbed her head, as she continued to search the sky.

"I mead the dog is in constant motion, so you'd think Tigger would be a great name. But then again, he is just a puppy. He might outgrow his bounciness….."

Lois wished she knew how Clark was doing. She heard on the radio that morning that Superman had worked all night to help with the fires, and he had flown many burn victims to a hospital in Fort Worth.

Lois ached for him, knowing burn victims were by far the worst. She wondered if he was still working the scene or if he was off floating between the earth and sky licking his wounds. Guilt twisted and festered throughout her gut. Usually, she was there to hold and comfort him in the aftermath of such a tragedy.

A hand touched her shoulder, startling Lois from her musings.

"Here. You look like you could use this."

Lois smiled gratefully and accepted the cup of coffee from Kim. "I thought you were off recess duty today."

"I — Alex stay out of the mud and on the sidewalk!"

Lois followed Kim's line of vision to Alex, who had just jumped over a mud puddle and landed inches from Elianna's hand.

"Hey!" Elianna jerked her hand back and flipped her newly bobbled hair at him.

"Whoops!" Alex turned to grin at Kim. "Yes, Mrs. Dawson."

"That boy!" Kim shook her head before answering Lois' previous question. "I am off duty. I just came to check in."

"Oh can you stay a minute while I run in to use the restroom?" Julie asked, already heading for the door.

"The energizer bunny has nothing on that woman." Lois deadpanned as she blew soft ripples in her coffee and Kim snorted in agreement.

Kim watched Lois stare at the clouds overhead, taking in her pale complexion and noting the puffs under her eyes. Yesterday's circles looked like a light ash next to the dark spots that now resided there.

Lois' head turned abruptly when she thought she'd heard Clark's tale-tell sonic boom. She released a breath she didn't know she was holding when a patch of clouds cleared.

It was only a plane.

Lois suddenly realized that Kim was looking at her and expecting a response. An apology reflected in her eyes.. "I'm sorry, Kim. What did you say?"

Amused, Kim parroted her unanswered question. "You're not sleeping well, are you?"

Lois unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn before accepting defeat and said innocently, "Is it that obvious?"

Kim shrugged, "If it makes you feel any better, I don't think Clark is resting well either."

Lois sipped her coffee, trying to dissolve the lump that started in her throat and sat heavily in her stomach.

"I think he's really missing you. We didn't see him last night. I know that he went out to work on your story. I was up pretty late for me—I stayed up reading until almost 11:00. When I went to bed, Clark still wasn't back. Then at breakfast Mike said Clark left a note thanking us for our hospitality, that he'd gone for an early jog and would see us later today." She shrugged. "My theory, Clark couldn't sleep and tried to run it off. I mean Mike's up at 5:00."

So that was how he had explained his "super" absence.

Lois drained the last of her of her coffee. "Have you seen him today?"

Kim frowned slightly, "No. He must be tied down at another campus."

"Teacher!" Kailey came running at full speed followed closely by Maggie.

Lois rolled her eyes and looked at Kim. "Does she ever take a break?"

Kim shook her head. "What is it Kailey?"

Kailey switched her gaze from Lois to Kim. "Maggie, she—" Kailey pointed back towards Maggie, whose arms were crossed.

Kim held up her hand. "Kailey, before you go any further I want you to stop and think. Is this an important thing to tell me, or can you work it out with Maggie yourself?"

Kailey's consideration lasted as long as it took to switch channels on a television. "It is important. Maggie said bad words!"

"I did not!" Maggie was at Kailey's side with a scowl on her face. She turned to face the adults, pleading her case. "You can say 'What the hell?' at school. Right, Ms. Cochran?"

Lois's smirk vanished, as she physically began to squirm and Kim bit her lip, amused at the entire situation, before asking. "Maggie, why did you say those words?"

"Because," Maggie growled, pointing an accusing finger at Kailey, "she colored on my space!"

"I did not!"

"You did too! And I was there first!" Maggie's eyes narrowed, as she stepped closer to her adversary.

"Girls!" Kim interrupted, before Maggie physically went after Kailey.

The two continued to glare at one another, but fell silent.

Kim looked at Kailey. "Was Maggie there first?"

"Well yeah," Kailey chucked her thumb towards Maggie, "but she was hogging the whole sidewalk!"

"Kailey," Kim sighed. "this sidewalk is very big. Go find a different spot to draw on—away from Maggie."

Kailey opened her mouth to protest.

"Kailey," Kim warned, lowering her eyebrows.

"Yes Ma'am," Kailey said with a tone that indicated, she would obey but that she thought the ruling was completely unfair. She turned to walk away, muttering under her breath. "But she _was_ hogging it!"

Kim fixed her teacher stare on Maggie, who was looking quite pleased with Kim's take on the matter. "Maggie you can not say 'What the hell' at school. They are not nice words."

Maggie's smile wilted as she looked at Lois. "But Ms. Cochran said it yesterday when she found the old gum Alex put on her chair."

Kim pressed her lips together attempting to swallow her laugh.

"Well," Lois stammered, "I-I-I shouldn't have said that yesterday Maggie. Mrs. Dawson is correct."

Maggie looked at Kim. "You should send her to time-out."

Kim sucked her checks causing her snicker to blow through her nose. "How about the two of you agree to use better words instead?"

"Fine with me!" Maggie flashed a smile at Lois.

"Yeah, me too." Lois looked at the ground.

Maggie turned and breezed past several children, returning to her masterpiece.

Lois looked up when she realized Kim was now laughing freely. "Well, I'm sorry. But the little punk stuck chewing up gum on my chair, and it was all over my skirt." She tossed a hand in the air. "I grew up on military bases, for crying out loud! We could say 'What the hell?' at school."

"Taught it to you in kindergarten, didn't they?"

Lois grinned. "Actually, we're lucky I didn't teach her some of my other colorful phrases."

They watched Maggie work. The girl was on all fours drawing big strokes on the sidewalk. Although Lois couldn't see what she was drawing it was obvious she was working hard, as her tongue peeked out the corner of her mouth.

Kim smiled. "She's really taken to you."

Lois blinked, confused. "What do you mean? Kids and I are like chocolate covered pickles. Since I've been here Alex has discovered his aspirations to be a hairdresser, I've taught Maggie to swear, and if you hadn't found him yesterday, Ethan would be half-way to Timbuktu!"

Kim chuckled. "I'll agree that you've had a few mishaps, here and there. But, I've never seen Maggie respond so positively to a teacher before." She became more serious. "Karen Matthews is a good teacher, don't get me wrong, but she doesn't click with Maggie like you do. Maggie is an annoyance to her and she is in trouble quite often."

"Well that hasn't changed!" Lois objected. "She was in trouble plenty of times yesterday.

"Yes, but there is a difference." Kim tilted her head and looked Lois hard in the eyes. "Don't sell yourself short. You may not be cut out to be a teacher, but you have been a great influence on Maggie. Sure she gets on your nerves sometimes, but you've taken the time to truly see her."

Unconvinced, Lois raised an eyebrow.

"I mean it, Lois. Karen has been working with Maggie for months on writing a sentence. And you got her to write two in her journal today. She was so proud when she came to show me."

"Well I am a writer." Lois shrugged, "But, I still don't think—"

"Alex!" Kailey shrieked.

He was poised to hop over another puddle.

"Alex, come here!" Kim's hands were on her hips, and her face was stern.

Oblivious to the fact that he might be in trouble, Alex bounced towards the ladies. As he wove through the many students he tripped on his shoelaces, somersaulted into a very wide mud puddle, and took two boys down with him in the process.

"Whoa. Cool!" Alex stood up covered in mud. Thankfully the other two boys landed in wet grass and were only a little soggy.

Kim looked at Lois. "Do you want to take him in to get cleaned up or should I?"

Lois hesitated, "I take him to the nurse, right?"

"Yes. She'll either help clean him up or have change of clothes for him."

"I'll take him. I can refill my cup while I'm at it." She held up her empty mug and told Alex to follow her. The two of them tiptoed around the other students.

Lois carefully dodged his muddy arm, determined not to ruin another suit, as she held the door open and ushered Alex inside the main office.

Chloe looked up from her desk and bit back a smile. "What happened this time?"

Amy, who had just finished transferring a call, sighed. "Come on, Alex, let's go clean you up."

Alex just grinned and slapped a filthy hand on the large counter before following the nurse into her office.

"I'll be right back, Mrs. Hill. I'm going to get some more coffee."

"Oh, will you get me some too?" Chloe called after her.

Lois rounded the corner into the teacher's lounge and stopped short when she saw Beth Riley talking about Clark to another teacher at the soda machine.

"I can't wait to see him again. I mean I really think we hit it off."

Lois stood at the door a moment debating if her need for coffee was greater than her need to avoid this woman. She didn't have to make the decision, as Beth turned around and fixed Lois with a cool stare.

She placed her change in her pocket. "Hey." She rolled her cola between her hands.

Lois rolled her eyes and brushed past the women, deciding that she now most definitely needed coffee.

She quickly filled the cups and sent Beth an award winning smile, that meant to reflect the daggers being shot her way. "Have a nice day."

Lois heard the last of their conversation as she turned the corner.

"What's with her?"

"Oh, she has a thing for Al. She's totally jealous."

Chloe turned in her chair and her smile faded when she took in the look on Lois' face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing," Lois fumed. "I just love hearing that woman talk about my husband like he's a piece of meat. I mean even if Clark _was_ available, he'd never go for someone that dense!"

Chloe's smile returned. It was so refreshing to see Lois feel something other than anger when it came to Clark. "Relax, Lois. It's not like you have anything to worry about."

"I know that." Lois sighed and leaned against the hutch on Chloe's desk so that she could look down at her. "It's just…..we've been fighting. I mean really fighting."

"Yes. I know." Chloe gave a sympathetic frown.

"I guess," Lois swallowed. "I guess I'm just feeling really insecure right now. I really want to fix things with him, Chloe." Her sigh was heavy as she was determined not to cry. "I'm not so sure this one's going to be very easy."

"I know." Chloe reached up and laid a hand on Lois forearm. "But you certainly can't fix it if you don't talk to him."

"Believe me, it is top priority as soon as I see him." She pulled away from Chloe's hand hugged her arms, running her hands up their length as if trying to warm herself. "I miss him."

Chloe rose so that she could look Lois directly in the eyes and braced her body on the hutch. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Clark yesterday. You two will get through this. You'll get past both of your own stubbornness." She paused looking for a way to lighten the mood. "I mean you guys are like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy."

Lois raised an eyebrow.

"Mickey and Minnie," Chloe amended.

"Is that the best you've got?" Lois smirked.

"Raggedy Ann and Andy?"

"Eww, aren't they supposed to be brother and sister? And what's with all the kid friendly references?"

Chloe waved an arm as if the answer should be obvious. They were in an elementary school after all. She rolled her eyes. "Okay, so my examples may be poor. But my point is still valid. They all belong together. Just like you and Clark." She grinned.

Lois smiled. "You told him that, huh?"

Chloe shrugged. "Well, I added a little on your end, but the message was the same."

Lois patted Chloe's hand and told her pointedly, "Thanks, 'Lucy'."

"Hey the doctor is always in. I'll send you my bill."

Lois rolled her eyes at Chloe as she entered the nurse's office. "Alex? Are you ready to go back outside?"

Amy was standing in the doorway of the bathroom in her office, barking at Alex that he'd missed a spot. She turned her head to Lois. "I made the mistake of sending him in there to wash the mud off. I should have known better. There is water all over the floor. He'll be ready to go out when he's done mopping it up."

Lois shook her head, not really surprised at Alex's latest stunt. "I'll wait." She began looking at all the pictures and knick-knacks that decorated her office. It was impeccably tidy, and clean. All the pictures were dusted and straight. Lois glanced at the college diploma that hung above her desk and fingered the university logo.

Amy Carlton Hill, Bachelor of Science in Nursing Texas Tech University.

She had graduated with honors.

"You went to school in Lubbock?"

"Undergrad." Amy called over her shoulder. "Alex, for crying out loud!" That's enough paper towels."

Lois chuckled and straightened the diploma. "Did you go on to do more in the nursing field?"

"No," she said, distracted. "Alex, would you just hurry up." She turned to frown at Lois as she gestured to Alex.

Lois nodded her agreement.

Amy looked back at Alex, making sure he was still on task before turning back to Lois. "I left that dust bowel as fast as I could and got my Maters in bio-chemistry at UT."

"Wow." Lois was impressed.

"Done!" Alex announced as he shoved past Amy.

Lois' eyes widened. He was no longer covered in mud, but he was completely soaked from head to toe. She looked at Amy.

She shrugged. "He'll dry out."

Lois watched as water dripped from his head landing on shiny floor. She found herself wondering if he ever made through a day without some kind of catastrophe. She considered verbalizing her last thought but said instead. "Come on, Alex, let's go back to recess."

She sighed when she got outside and saw that Julie was back. Lois really didn't want to listen to any more Benji antics.

"Hey, Ms. Cochran, come and see what I wrote!" Maggie tapped Lois' legs with her hands leaving several chalky prints. Lois dusted her trousers before following Maggie to the spot she'd claimed as her own.

"My teacher is the best in the whole wide world."

Lois praised her work. "Good, Maggie. You even remembered the spaces this time!"

Maggie beamed and threw her chalky arms around Lois' waist.

Lois was slowly beginning to find the girl's sudden bursts of affection, only slightly disarming. "Mrs. Matthews would be proud." She said, as she awkwardly patted Maggie's head.

Maggie wrinkled her nose. "Mrs. Matthews?" She squeezed Lois tighter. "My sentence is about you!"

Lois opened and closed her mouth, trying to collect her thoughts.

Whatever Lois was about to say became lost in the wailing sirens and every head turned to see a large ambulance pull up to the front of the school.

Maggie looked up at Lois horrified and proceed to bury her head into Lois stomach. "I didn't do it!" Alex simultaneously screamed over and over, "It wasn't me!"

Exchanging a somber look with Lois, Julie blew a whistle, telling the children to line up and she whispered to Lois as they ushered the students inside. "We can split Kim's class up go to our classrooms to watch a cartoon for the rest of recess."

Lois took the tail end of the three classes and herded them into their respective rooms. As the last student entered, Lois turned to find Chloe at her side.

"We have another kid in coma."

Lois sighed and looked to the ceiling.

"That's not the worst of it." Chloe bit her lip.

"Lois, its Maggie's sister, Maya."


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Lois physically wilted as she felt all the air leave her body. Just as drivers are riveted to horrific car accidents, Lois found herself staring at Maggie.

She was standing in front of several children with her finger wagging, bossing them to sit down. It was obvious that Maggie was close to her older sister by the way she talked about her, Lois reflected.

What would Maggie do when she discovered the latest news? Lois found herself wondering if she should even tell Maggie or let her mother inform her of her sister's condition. She assumed Maggie and Maya's mother had been contacted and was on her way to the school. Or maybe she was just going to meet Maya's ambulance at the hospital.

Lois looked at Chloe, who easily read Lois' unspoken question. Chloe threw her hands up and shrugged. "Don't look at me. I'm about as close to Super Nanny as you are." Both women looked back at Maggie. "I have no idea whether we should tell her or not."

The child in question turned, suddenly aware that the adults in the room were looking at her as if she had six eyes. She shot the women a confused look. "What?"

"Nothing," Lois said abruptly, before jumping into action.

She stiffly walked into Mrs. Matthew's closet, looking for a suitable video as she called over her shoulder and commanded the students to have a seat on the carpet. It took her a moment to find what she was looking for, but she finally found several children's cartoons stacked in the corner of a shelf. Lois grabbed the one on top and turned sharply, almost knocking Maggie to the ground.

Maggie backed up slightly and pulled on Lois' sleeve. "Ms. Cochran, I—"

"Maggie, go sit down," Lois cut her off.

"But, you forgot…"

Lois brushed past Maggie, avoiding her gaze. She knew if she looked Maggie in the eyes at this moment she would crumble. Lois didn't think she could bring herself to give Maggie the looming news, didn't think she could handle Maggie's crestfallen expression that would surely follow. For some reason that Lois didn't completely understand herself, she couldn't bear to let this small girl, with her knowing eyes, tell it like it is attitude, and crooked smile, down.

Maggie, not the least bit fazed, continued to follow Lois to the television in the corner of the room. "I just need to tell you…."

Lois was only half listening as she attempted to start the VCR; nodding as she tried to pry the tape out of the machine without completely destroying it. She put it in again and the whole system shut down causing the television to blare static as the VCR blinked on and off. Lois fought the swear word off the tip of her tongue.

"Thanks for sharing, Maggie," Lois said through gritted teeth as she hit the side of the VCR, and thankfully, it whirred to life. She sighed as she started the video, and all talking from the children ceased as they became absorbed in the movie. Lois shut off the light before gesturing to Chloe, who was still standing the doorway, to come sit with her at the table furthest from the children.

Huddled side by side and talking in hushed tones, the two of them tried to piece together the latest development.

"Okay. Start at the top. What happened?" Lois asked, completely tuning out Tom chasing Jerry in the background.

"I don't really know." Chloe bit her lip. "One minute I was trying to hack into some of the students' files and then the phone rang. It was Lindsay Bower. It took me several minutes to even understand what she was saying through the static." Chloe blinked her eyes and sighed. "Apparently, Maya just collapsed on her way to lunch. Lindsay said she was fine earlier this morning."

"There has to be something we're missing." Lois insisted.

Laughter erupted from several students, who were clearly amused by the scene playing out before them.

"Ms. Cochran." Kailey, ever the informant, tapped Lois on the shoulder.

"Maggie, just—"

Lois snapped, finally hitting her limit with this girl's tattling. "Kailey, I swear, if you finish that sentence you're going to find yourself locked in the closet for the rest of the afternoon!"

Kailey opened and shut her mouth, her eyes widening as she took in the look on Lois' face. She must have decided that Lois was serious, because she backed away and mutely sat on the carpet.

"Lois," Chloe's whisper was incredulous, "I don't think you can lock her in the closet, no matter how much she gets on your nerves."

"You haven't listened to Kailey's play-by-play for the last day and a half." Lois shot back. "Do you have any better suggestions?"

At Chloe's shaking head, Lois said, "No? Okay then. Let's go over the facts we have."

Lois rose to fetch a pad of paper off of Mrs. Matthew's desk and fingered the drawing Maggie had made her that morning before reaching over it to grab a pen.

She sat back next to Chloe and began listing everything they knew about Maya and the other four students that had fallen into comas.

"Ms. Cochran." Ashton was at her side. Lois, absorbed in her task, never heard him. He tried again, saying her name over and over as he poked the back of her shoulder.

"What?" Lois turned abruptly.

"Maggie's gone." Ashton pointed to the door.

Lois put down her pen and scanned the students looking for Maggie's distinctive sloppy ponytail. "What do you mean, Maggie's gone?"

Ashton looked as if to say, 'and just who is the teacher here?' "I mean, she's gone. She went out the door." He pointed to the closed entryway.

Lois rose just as the door opened and the girl of the moment entered the room, her mouth contorting slightly, as if she'd swallowed a bug.

"Maggie, where have you been?" Lois demanded.

Maggie placed her hands on her hips. "I told you I needed to take my bubblegum medicine."

Lois' eyes grew big. "You went to the office?"

"Yeah. You said I could," when Lois didn't respond right away Maggie added, "when you were starting the movie. Remember?"

Lois didn't, but she _had_ been focused on starting the move, so she couldn't be sure. She gulped. "Was your mother with the nurse?"

Maggie now looked at Lois as if she had three heads. "Duh, Mom's at work." She shook her head as she wandered towards the carpet. "Why would Mom be at school?"

Lois released the breath she had been holding, thankful Maggie had not stumbled upon her unconscious sister. She told Ashton to go and sit back down before an idea hit her.

"Chloe, did Maya come to the office to get her medicine today?"

"I don't know. There was about half an hour this morning that I was in Mrs. Davis' office helping her with files. Why?"

"Didn't Katelin Winters fall into a comma after taking her ADD medication?"

"I think so." Chloe rose, catching on to Lois' line of thought. "I have the students' files in a bag behind my desk. I'll be right back."

Lois listed the other students. Katelin and Jaden both took medication for ADD and ADHD. Lois couldn't remember, but she thought one of the other students was an asthmatic. She tapped her pen against the pad of paper as she realized that the last student wasn't on any medication.

Maybe she was wrong…..but Lois couldn't squelch the feeling in the pit of her stomach that she was on to something.

Amy Hill seemed so nice…..

Lois scoffed at the thought. She'd met plenty of "nice" criminals over the years. Her dating record before Clark was proof enough of that fact. Nice, didn't necessarily mean anything.

Lois began to list all the things she knew about Amy Hill. She had her masters in bio-chem. Lois made a note to look into any other schooling Amy might have; it certainly appeared as if she might have the knowledge to do something like this.

But the next question was why? Why would Amy Hill, an elementary school nurse, want to put five kids into a coma?

She looked up as Chloe dropped into the tiny seat next to her and began flipping through the top file in the stack she'd brought with her. She looked over at Lois' notes.

"Neil has asthma." She supplied and Lois made another note next to his name.

"What about Christian?"

Chloe continued to flip through the chart, excited at the prospect of finally having a solid lead. She scanned the file. "What I wouldn't give for Clark's speed reading ability about now."

Lois nodded her agreement and continued to puzzle over Amy's motivation for committing such a crime.

Chloe sighed. "No dice. Christian wasn't on any medication."

Lois stared at the television, lost in thought. Jerry had just banged Tom over the head with a frying pan and laughter could again be heard around the room.

"Maybe he wasn't taking anything that would be listed in his permanent record. Maya wasn't taking any regular medication. What if he was sick with something like strep?" Lois turned towards the students, who were still glued to the television and called to Elianna. It took several tries before Lois got her attention.

She stood with her eyes still on the movie and walked to Lois' side.

"Yeah?" Elianna's eyes didn't leave the screen.

"Elianna," Lois tapped her on the shoulder, but the girl didn't budge. "Elianna," Lois tried again and gently tilted the girl's head so that she was looking Lois in the eyes. "I need to ask you something, and it's really important."

"Okay," Elianna said, as she turned her gaze back to the TV.

"Elianna, look at me." Lois again guided her back. "I need you to think." She paused, "Before your brother had to go to the hospital, was he sick with something?"

She now had Elianna's undivided attention. Her large brown eyes pooled. "Yes, he's sick. He's sleeping and he won't wake up."

Lois stroked the child's hair. "Yes, honey, I mean before that. Before he was sick with the sleeping, did he go to the doctor for something else? Did he have a stomach ache? A sore throat? Anything?" Lois tucked a stray hair behind the Elianna's tiny ear. "Take your time, sweetie. Think really hard."

Chloe watched the interaction and wondered where the sudden Mary Poppins instinct had come from.

Elianna climbed into Lois' lap and laid her head on her shoulder a few moments before looking Lois in the eyes. "I'm tired of my brother being sick." Lois slowly began to rock the little girl, hoping to keep her talking. "He went to the doctor a lot. Mommy says that he has to have his tonsils and his asteroids out."

"Asteroids?" Chloe echoed.

Lois looked at her over Elianna's head. "I bet she means adenoids." She rocked Elianna moment longer. "Thanks, Elianna. Do you want to go back and watch the movie now?"

Elianna nodded and hopped off of Lois lap. Lois watched her get settled before turning back to Chloe. "Bingo!" She picked up her pad of paper. "What do you want to bet, Christian was sick with tonsillitis or something like that before slipping into his coma?"

Chloe absentmindedly chewed the tip of her thumb. "Okay, say we're right. Let's say that somehow the medication plays a role in this. Are we sure that Amy's to blame? What does she have to gain by this?"

"That's the million dollar question." Lois tossed the notebook back onto the table.

Chloe picked up the notebook and reread Lois' notes as Lois filtered through the children's files looking for something they might have overlooked.

"Ms. Cochran," Maggie whined.

"Hmm?" Lois murmured without looking up. She picked up her pen and was poised to make notes in the margins.

"I don't feel so good." Maggie placed her hands on Lois shoulder and laid her head down, using her laced fingers as a pillow. "My stomach hurts."

Lois exchanged a look with Chloe and said cryptically, "Why don't you go and get a drink of water and I'll go see if the nurse has something for your stomach." Lois raised an eyebrow at Chloe, making sure she understood the message.

Lois was going to do some digging.

"Okay." Maggie headed for the door as Lois followed. "But the she's not there."

Lois froze. "What do you mean the nurse isn't there? You just saw her."

"No I didn't." Maggie said with her hand poised on the doorknob.

Lois eyed her carefully. "But you said you took your medicine."

Stomachache forgotten, Maggie placed her hands on her hips and sighed. "I did take my medicine. She still wasn't there."

Lois sighed; this was becoming a bad version of 'Who's on First.' She tried to keep the frustration out of her voice as she evenly asked, "How did you take your medicine if Mrs. Hill wasn't there?"

Maggie's answer mimicked Lois' previous tone, speaking very slowly as she sarcastically drew out each word. "I opened the cabinet and took my medicine."

All color drained from Lois' face and she crouched down in front of Maggie so that she could be eyelevel. "Are you sure you took _your_ medicine?"

Chloe was now standing next to them and her question mixed with Lois'. "How much did you take?"

Maggie looked between the two women amused at their obvious concern. She again drew her words out, as if speaking more slowly would help them understand. "Yes I took my medicine. I can read my name you know. It starts with an M."

"So does, Maya." Lois said under her breath.

Maggie addressed Chloe's question next. "And I just took two drinks of it." She held up two fingers as she said this. "Mom says two tablespoons is all I get."

Lois rose and grabbed Maggie by the hand, leading her towards the office. "Watch the kids until Kim gets back," she called over her shoulder to Chloe.

Maggie muttered the whole way as Lois dragged her along. "I don't know what the big deal is. I just took my medicine like I always do."

"Right now I need you to zip it." Lois commanded in a tone that let Maggie know she meant business.

Maggie actually obeyed, without arguing for once in her life, and for that Lois was grateful.


End file.
